Is Your Landlord in Foreclosure?
Tenants are often the unnoticed victims of the mortgage crisis. Through no fault of their own, they are finding themselves evicted from their homes. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters are an estimated 40 percent of the families currently facing eviction because of foreclosure. With 3 million homes expected to go into foreclosure this year, hundreds of thousands will be forced to face this crisis.
Many tenants do not become aware of a landlord foreclosure until an eviction notice is posted on their door and they must scramble to find housing on short notice. Temporary housing shelters are seeing more and more renters who, without the return of old deposits, do not have the savings to cover security deposits and prepaid rents for a new rental. It is especially devastating when tenants are unable to collect the return of thousands of dollars in deposits to the landlord.
Sometimes it is the case where, unbeknownst to tenants, owners rent their property when they are already in foreclosure. They may pocket the rental money or even use it secure a new place to rent for themselves. Now after just getting settled, the tenant must prepare to move again.
Having early notice that the landlord has defaulted on his loan will enable the tenant to negotiate the return of any security deposits and prepaid rent and give them time to look for a new home. State laws vary, but unfortunately, the majority of the states do not require that the tenant be given notice of a foreclosure. Of most of the ones that do, the time frame is minimal and if the home is listed as owner-occupied, tenants are not likely to get the required notice. Check the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website for tenant rights by state.
What can renters do to protect themselves from rental foreclosure? A Notice of Default or Notice of Trustee Sale is public record and can be researched periodically at the county recorder office. A more simple way to do this is to subscribe to Tenant Protection Services (www.TenantProtectionServices.com) for monthly, renters foreclosure notifications. They also offer a free report with additional tips and advice.
Also, keep your eyes open for these signs that your landlord may be in trouble: mail from loan servicers or lenders and companies offering bankruptcy relief, realtors or investors circling the property, and a landlord’s inattention to the deterioration of your property.
Tenants will have a better chance of avoiding lost deposits or unexpected eviction if they do their due diligence.
Tags: apartment foreclosure, landlord foreclosure, rent foreclosure, rental foreclosure, renter foreclosure, renters foreclosure, renting foreclosure, tenant foreclosure, tenant rights foreclosure, tenants foreclosure