Renters foreclosed on- where is their help?

[Fast Pass]

We are renting until we decide if we like Florida enough to buy a house.
A court official showed up at our house and presented us with foreclosure papers. Our landlord had not made a single payment on our house for over a year.
We went to the real estate company(thank-God we went through a real estate company) and they said that they would be happy to find us a new place without having to put up any extra money(although technically they don't even have to help us). However they said that we should just stay in the house until our lease expires or we are forced to move.
We have the money and means to move but what happens to all those other renters who don't have a nice real estate company or who rented straight from the landlord?
I looked over the stimulus package and there is help for everyone from home owners to car dealers but none for innocent victims of foreclosures.
It cost money to move to another place not to mention up rooting kids, pets, etc.
So did I miss something in the stimulus package or are renters who are victims of foreclosure out in the cold?

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

In Cook County, the sheriff has refused to evict renters who are the victims of foreclosures.

 

[freckles and boo]

I would get the promise from the real estate company in writing. I also wouldn't wait to move. You know the foreclosure in inevitable, right? You don't want to come home one day to find strangers going through your possessions on the lawn.

 

[Disnydad]

I'd take them up on the offer to relocate you now.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'd take them up on the offer to relocate you now.

Boom baby. I would demand it.

 

[JR6ooo4]

If you move now get some help with making sure that the defaulting landlord can not come after you trying to collect the remaining payments in your rental contract.

All he needs is a free lawyer to cause all sorts of problems for you.

Mikeeee

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you move now get some help with making sure that the defaulting landlord can not come after you trying to collect the remaining payments in your rental contract.

All he needs is a free lawyer to cause all sorts of problems for you.

Mikeeee

Good point. You have to have the rental agreement broken somehow.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I would get the promise from the real estate company in writing. I also wouldn't wait to move. You know the foreclosure in inevitable, right? You don't want to come home one day to find strangers going through your possessions on the lawn.

Not really. If he can come up with a plan and some cash the bank will definately take whatever will help their books. As opposed to waiting for a building to sell, for months or years.

But if he is booted, then I would worry about who will maintain the building. WIll they keep the utilities servicing the building.

Mikeeee

 

[Sleepy]

Forgive me for not understanding contracts, but wouldn't a foreclosure notice be the same as the owner breaking the lease? I don't see how a renter can be held responsible for any remaining payments if they are being forced out of a contract.

 

[Fast Pass]

Thanks for all the help. We aren't too worried because he actually has broken the rental agreement by not making some repairs. He also hasn't paid the HOA fees, the state property taxes, the county taxes nor has he paid the city taxes(we know we get all the court officials with the papers).
I am not really worried about us because we do have resources to get us somewhere else but what I am worried about is all those renters out their who no fault of their own are being tossed out.
The thing that really gets me, as well as our real estate agent, is the landlord knew way before we rented the house that he was in financial doo-doo and didn't say anything to anyone.
We are going to go see a lawyer tommorow to see if we can get him for fraud. I doubt it would do any good but who knows.
Once again thanks for the help!
I just can't help thinking about all those families out in the street because they can't afford to move and have been tossed out because of a dead beat landlord.

 

[Wishing on a star]

However they said that we should just stay in the house until our lease expires or we are forced to move.

Until your are 'forced' to move???

BAD advice...

Your landlords are deadbeats.
Thay have taken your rent, and not paid the mortgage...
I would not want to give him one more cent.

Do not put yourself and your family at risk of being put in a bad situation, evicted with nowhere to go... You say you have some financial resources... but that still would not make that kind of situation any better.

I would initiate a move NOW.

 

[themarquis]

Until your are 'forced' to move???

BAD advice...

Your landlords are deadbeats.
Thay have taken your rent, and not paid the mortgage...
I would not want to give him one more cent.

Do not put yourself and your family at risk of being put in a bad situation, evicted with nowhere to go... You say you have some financial resources... but that still would not make that kind of situation any better.

I would initiate a move NOW.

Eviction takes a long time. There is a very complicated process that has to be gone through, and lots of warnings that have to be given before anything happens. That is probably why the rental company has told the OP to stay put until the eviction process is underway.

They can't just show up and toss all the OP's belongings onto the lawn or something!

I agree, though that they should take the rental place up on its offer soon and start making preparations to leave to be on the safe side and to get things taken care of now.

 

[Imzadi]

I don't see what the problem is for "other renters." I've moved several times, not for foreclosures. Basically, if both parties agree to dissolving the current lease, or there is a problem where the lease ends or needs to be broken, 30 days notice is given on both sides. Technically, 30 days is enough time to find a new apartment or a new renter. I don't see what difference it would make if foreclosure is the reason for leaving. Foreclosures don't happen overnight. 30 days is 30 days.

If you have more than 30 days to look for the place right for you, great! I would not leave my head in the sand waiting for the last minute, then acting all victimy. You've been forewarned that there is a problem. You only have yourself to blame if you don't go out and find a new place that is acceptable in time.

 

[Carly_Roach]

I also agree that the OP should move now. While other advice given here about staying may or may not be technically right, what it means if this advice is wrong is actual, physical problems that the OP will have to handle - NOT the advice-giver. OP has indicated that they are able to move so I'm relieved for them.

As for their question about what happens to others in this situation, welcome to a problem that's been occurring in the Northeast for years. Another poster mentioned upstream about the Cook County Sheriff refusing to evict renters. The only reason this made the news is because that Sheriff is one of the few who are doing it. Most of the others follow the law which is to move all items out of the dwelling, onto the lawn and secure the dwelling.

There really is no answer for renters who rent someone else's house. The Stimulous Package allows for assistance on a homeowners primary residence, which happens to be the majority of the foreclosures in the US at this time.

If the homeowner of your rental property was taking your money and just letting the house go, it's a matter of one person or family badly mismanaging their funds and not caring who they harm in the process. No amount of stimulous can resolve that kind of mindset. Crooked people are crooked people in rich times and in poor. If you want security and peace of mind, you have to either rent from a trustworthy landlord (or real estate company) or buy a house where you are sure of the responsibility of the homeowner (you).

I'm glad you're in a position where you can move and you have the assistance of the real estate company to help you. You've made a great choice in having a third-party advocator.

 

[Poohlovr]

Don't know if this will help you (you have to have a Fannie Mae property), but it's worth putting out there---

On Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Fannie Mae announced its new National REO Rental Policy. Under this policy, Fannie Mae offers renters who are occupying one- to four-unit foreclosed properties at the time Fannie Mae acquires the property the opportunity to remain on a month-to-month lease. This policy addresses the problem recently experienced by some renters of having been displaced through foreclosures, even when they have been making their monthly rent payments consistently to the foreclosed borrower.

Fannie Mae previously announced an eviction suspension which remains in place until the end of January. The new policy will be in place prior to the end of that suspension.



If a renter is living in a foreclosed property, property managers, on behalf of Fannie Mae, will notify them of their options. One of those options is that the renter will be offered a month-to-month lease with Fannie Mae at market-rate rent, provided that the property is “habitable” and meets state laws and local codes for rental properties. The other option available is where the renter chooses not to remain in the property and enter into a lease, and Fannie Mae will offer monetary support to aid in the transition to new housing.



More information on this policy, including a list of frequently asked questions and answers, is available at the following link:


http://www.fanniemae.com/newsrelease...=News+Releases

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Why not talk to the bank and see what sort of deal they will give you toward the purchase of the house? They might be able to work with you on it. If you have enough money to handle a move, etc., you may be able to come up with an acceptable down payment.

However, I would check with a lawyer to see about the tax and HOA arearages and what effect they might have on you if you purchase.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I don't know.

I do know that we were once in an apartment where the landlord didn't pay the gas bill and our heat was cut off in the winter. We were told that we could pay the bill or freeze.

So, that was fun, packing up a freezing cold house and moving while the snow fell.

 

[Imzadi]

I also agree that the OP should move now. While other advice given here about staying may or may not be technically right, what it means if this advice is wrong is actual, physical problems that the OP will have to handle - NOT the advice-giver.

That seems to be a bigger recurrent theme at the DIS lately. I wonder if, as people are living in more fear and anxiety over the economy, they need to feel they can still be "experts" over things they know nothing about and give meaningless, non-factual, possibly harmful "advice" to give themselves a sense of certainty or something. It doesn't directly affect the advice-giver, so what the heck do they care?

 

[Fast Pass]

Poohlovr,

Now thats the kind of help I hoped the government would offer! Thank-you for the info!

 

[Free4Life11]

Maybe you can get all prepared to move and wait to be evicted. Move to your new place then see if you can sue the landlord for all you can! Stick it to 'em good!