Renters Threatened Again During Foreclosure Crisis

Daily Finance:

It's one of those stories that sounds appalling, that you might hope the media is playing up just for its shock value: responsible and conscientious tenants who suddenly find themselves evicted and out of a home -- because the property they are renting is under foreclosure.

Read the whole story: Daily Finance

Comments

[tvbizmodel]

09:46 PM on 11/10/2010

Normally one would think that the person who needs a tenant background check is the tenants. However, I have several friends using http://tenantscreeningbackgroundcheck.com to run background checks on the landlords to make sure that they are on the level. It is really amazing how there are so many crooked people now attempting to rent property that they don't even own. The reports that they offer not only include evictions, judgments, liens, foreclosures, bankruptcies and criminal history but also lists all real estate owned with mortgage history, dates and transaction amounts.

[Redemption Song II]

09:28 AM on 10/30/2010

...perhaps renters should have the right to see their potentional landlord's credit and income/assets before signing a lease. :*

[LindaLogic]

08:30 PM on 10/28/2010

The thing that got us here to begin with has not been eliminated........GREED! It was greed on all of our parts both individual and corporate that got us here and it is greed that will keep us here unless we learn to do the right thing. When we learn that it is easier to do that then and only then will things get better for everyone.

[MoreFreedom]

09:05 AM on 10/29/2010

It wasn't my greed - so I object to the accusation. You on the other hand likely were greedy - and purchased more home than you could afford assuming the value of the home would continue rising. So are you going to be responsible, and pay your mortgage, or will you be greedy and lay the losses on the bank?

The real greed was that of the politicians, basically taking campaign cash and providing favors to special interests, at taxpayer expense: thru the CRA, Fannie/Freddie and the Fed. The "special interests" include the banksters, employees of Fannie/Freddie/Fed, "minorities" who the politicians pushed to get loans they didn't deserve thru the CRA, and finally community agitators like Obama who sued responsible banks who didn't make mortgages to minorities that should never have received one.

[alreadybad]

09:19 AM on 10/29/2010

You really need to seek help about your "minority" issues.

[Redemption Song II]

09:29 AM on 10/30/2010

Conservatives are all about common sense: common sense should dictate that minorities could not have caused the current housing crisis.

[Reno Fickler]

05:37 PM on 10/28/2010

When bank's policies demanded that you have a pulse to buy a $500,000 home, why not buy several? Sure, sure, this is my principle place of residence. Like the bank was going to check!!

Then rent them out, collect thousands a month and when they foreclose, so what? Ain't my place.

[camanokat]

05:34 PM on 10/28/2010

This happened to my daughter. She was paying the landlord and he was pocketing the money. One day she came home to a foreclosure notice (NOD) on the door and moved out as soon as she could. Instead of hoping he'd give back the deposit, she stayed an extra month without paying rent. She should have checked HIS credit!

[Susan Shaffer]

08:17 PM on 10/28/2010

in austalia if the mortgagee is going to go to seize the property they must put in a statement of claim at the court. a copy is given to the owner. if the property is tenanted then a copy goes to the owner and also one to the tenant. it is served by hand only. tenants are given plenty of notice.
it seems to me there needs to be more regulation in usa.
if you are the owner there is usually a clause in the contract that if you default on 2 months worth of payments then the interest rate goes up by say 2%. this agravates the situation. the mortgage company could move immediately but often don't they would prefer that the owner sells and if they do take possession then they never let on that it is a mortgagee in possession sale. i just don't get it why the american mortgage companies and banks want to make such a loud noise about the status of the property. it is only going to drive down prices and affect other loans that they potentially own in their area.

[disgruntledprogressives]

05:12 PM on 10/28/2010

Maybe more tenants should consider buying an RV and renting a space in an RV park? That way even if the property is foreclosed on, they could more easily pick up and relocate. At least that way their home would have a fairly stable depreciation, not plunge "under water" with little hope of breaking the surface again? A modern "Grapes of Wrath" landscape.

[rainkitty]

10:30 PM on 10/28/2010

shhh.... that's a secret.

[DRBOTTS]

04:27 PM on 10/28/2010

What is it about the rich get richer that the middle class doesn't get. I worry about who the rich will go after when the middle class in gone. The rich must find someone or thing to feed on. Think it might be the government???? (RICH=BANKERS)

[MoreFreedom]

09:13 AM on 10/29/2010

You ignore the fact that those getting richer do it via one of three methods. First by selling products/services to willing buyers. Second, by stealing it (fortunately we've the police and courts to rectify this). Third, by using government to steal from others.

There's nothing immoral about the first method, and in fact, it's highly moral and represents people helping others thru their efforts. The second case are criminals and we have government to secure our liberties against criminals. The third case is what our country is more and more becoming and what we should be protesting. Criminal theft pales in comparison to the theft from taxpayers of the bailouts for the Banksters, GM, the auto unions, and Fannie/Freddie. Obama, and statists in congress voted for it. They are the really bad criminals.

[DRBOTTS]

11:04 AM on 10/29/2010

I agree with some of your point but some are not in force. Selling products like arbitrage are not making job just money. The stock market is legalized gambling. Stealing is a great money maker and the more you steal the less the penalty. The government stealing from us, yes I agree.

[oxygen]

04:26 PM on 10/28/2010

here's a good book to read "The Care and Feeding of Tenants" - see what the banks tell bad landlords to do to honest people

[ranxem]

03:46 PM on 10/28/2010

I am against over regulation, but it seems that private banks in the United States have become somewhat incapable to properly loan out to those who can afford having credit. I feel that there is no balance in banks anymore and we need it back. Banks were either issuing credits left and right prior to crisis or now they have simply STOPPED loaning. Please don't let anyone make you believe otherwise. Just look at the economy!

And let's stop blaming people for getting mortgages they could not handle! Bankers are the primary defense against suspicious activities conducted by customers and by making sure that all the information taken for credit application is valid. Anything less than that is simple FRAUD punishable by criminal law. We don't need more regulation, we need more enforcement of existing laws!

Shota
www.ranxem.com

[MoreFreedom]

09:22 AM on 10/29/2010

What government has done with banks shouldn't be called "regulation." Forcing banks to make a certain percentage of their loans to minorities is practically taking over the business (or results in losses to the business because of lawsuits resulting from the legislation). Creating and allowing Fannie/Freddie to buy liars loans from the banks (which were then repackaged and sold to banks, financial firms, and pension funds, with a US government guarantee, distorted the free market, and essentially gave banks a license to steal. If government didn't guarantee Fannie/Freddie securities, then government would have also screwed the banks in addition to taxpayers. All from the over investment in the Fed inflated real estate bubble, and those who expected home prices to continue rising forever.

[Ohio5470]

02:14 PM on 10/28/2010

I once lived in a rental property that was being forclosed on. I had just signed a one year lease and the new owner was forced to comply. It really is a matter of just standing your ground and not being intimdated by the banks and/or new owners.

[nikky]

02:46 PM on 10/28/2010

you were lucky

[mrspiffy]

01:21 PM on 10/28/2010

Apalling...
http://yieldpig.blogspot.com/

[Mik McAllister]

12:38 PM on 10/28/2010

My partner and I were informed on October 4th we had to be out by the 15th. We protested and they backed down and gave us the 22nd.

I'd been renting from that landlord since April. He had just told us a week prior to giving us notice that he was taking the house off the market. Then we were told that the bank had foreclosed.

My partner single-handedly redid the landscaping for the entire free. We fixed his plumbing problems in the landlord's half of the property. My partner rewired outside lights, repaired the cheap timers for the lights, and we also replaced the defunct solar lights in the backyard. We cleaned his pool for free, changed the filters for free... I even refurbished an old PC of mine so that he would have a better computer... and while we were packing to get out, he kept pressuring us for a full month's rent.

He also needed constant help getting his own stuff packed up to move out. He would deliberately wait until his friends were over to ask us in front of his friends.

We finally told him, no rent, no further help. Period.

We never heard of this act, and nobody clued us in at all. Especially not the bank employee who showed up to tell us we had to leave the furniture and appliances that WE had paid for.

[MyOpine]

12:45 PM on 10/28/2010

If you paid for the appliances and have proof of that the bank CAN NOT make you leave them. You should also be able to sue the landlord in small claims court (depending on the amount and the state you live in) to recoup your payments which were not use as intended. I would also tack on fees for the landscaping and other repair services - renters are not supposed to provide those services.

You and your partner seem like really nice people who were taken advantage of and possible a bit naive as to how the renter/landlord relationship should work, but that's not really the issue here - just an extra thought.

[Mik McAllister]

03:20 PM on 10/28/2010

Not only do I have receipts, I also had pictures of the same furniture and appliances at a previous residence. I also told the bank employee that she was trespassing in our rental property. That happens to be landlord-tenant law as well.

As far as compensation from the landlord... First of all he's 69. Up until two years ago, his partner handled all business. He hasn't a clue on basic facts. Up to the day we moved out, he still had no idea how much money he owed, and honestly thought he would get money back when the bank sold the house. Not happening, one of the mortgages still outstanding was an interest only loan, with principle not due to begin being paid until 2017.

We did what we could to help out someone who appeared to need it. He still needs help, just not the kind of help we can provide.

There were promises made. Those promises were not kept. We will move on. But it hurts that for months we had him crying on our shoulders, begging us to never leave - but when it came down to it, he was the one that was responsible for ending it. I had even offered to help go through his finances with him to straighten it out and make sure he knew what was going on; he refused, claiming he could handle it.

[colgan]

04:12 PM on 10/28/2010

You can rent my house anytime.

[oxygen]

04:18 PM on 10/28/2010

2nd that one - and don't forget the concept of agency relationship in law if you have to deal with the bank again - jam them up and good Mik McAllister, you deserve it

[Mik McAllister]

04:41 PM on 10/28/2010

Um, thanks. We found an apartment. We miss the privacy and the pool, but we can deal with it.

[PaceSetter]

12:24 PM on 10/28/2010

We moved into our rental last year after the landlord told us "You HAVE to raise your kids in this fabulous house. I raised my kids in it and you'll be happy in it for years!" Three weeks later, after the kids had started school, the first real estate agents showed up on the front step saying they had their clients in the car and an appointment to show the property. I called the landlord and he said "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you I put it on the market again." (He'd taken it off for a month so the days-listed reset. Being new to town and only wanting to rent, we hadn't been checking the MLS anyway) We kept the place tidy , vacated whenever his agent needed to show the property - it was annoying and inconvenient, but when we woke up one morning to the process server nailing the foreclosure and sale at auction notice to the front door, it was kinda upsetting.

The idiot's dad bought the place in the 60's. He inherited it in the 80's and owned it free and clear, but as property values went up he used it as a piggy bank and borrowed WAAAAY more than the house is worth. He's underwater and HAS to sell (good luck, he built an illegal fence and has a pending easement lawsuit...)

We moved, turned the tables and ran the new landlord's credit before signing and moving in!

[MyOpine]

12:48 PM on 10/28/2010

So had you signed a lease? and if so did you get your deposit back after the foreclosure? I think there were some laws in place before this whole fraud mortgage crisis started..

Either way, sounds like a truly horrible story. Glad you moved to a better place.

[PaceSetter]

02:46 PM on 10/28/2010

The landlord was very hail-fellow-well-met and told us the reason he wanted to do a month-to-month was "'cause he'd had problems with the previous tenants and wanted to make sure the fit was right." We'd been on a month-to-month in our previous house, so thought not much of it. So, we could have moved, it's true, but there were no rentals available in our little school district and we didn't want to move the kids twice in one year.

We've gotten our entire deposit back, minus $600 he still owes us. We'll see if we ever get that or if we're just last in a long line of debtees.

[MAH999]

11:57 AM on 10/28/2010

Renting in WA state, I heard on a radio talk show that renters in that state are put on foreclosure documents because they are residing in the property. It would be on your credit, right along with the landlords. To get it expunged would take the services of a lawyer. Shortly after that, the husband of the woman who recently purchased my building told me that he was upset that his wife overextended herself to purchase it. Needless to say, I started packing my bags and looking for a landlord who was on more solid footing. My advice to any renter: check out your landlord's financial situation. As scary as that it, I'm glad I didn't purchase a house when everyone was urging me to. I'd be underwater now if I had.

[haval2]

11:54 AM on 10/28/2010

What does Timmy the boy genius say?