House I’m renting is getting forclosed, what can I do?
Posted on June 14th, 2010 by admin
House got for-closed on yesterday and was sold at the courthouse but the realty agents that are managing the property. They are telling me that I still owe them rent that is due on the 15th or I will lose my deposit, can they do this?
This realty agency is collecting rent for the person that no longer owns the place.
The realty company is presently collecting rent for the new owner. You are not entitled to live there for free now, you either pay the rent or they will evict you.
June 14th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
Yes, it’s their house now and they will start collecting the rent. If they want you out before your lease expires they will formally evict you.
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June 15th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Yes they can, you still have to pay what you owe.
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June 15th, 2010 at 1:10 am
sadly yes,
this is capitalism.
I advice you to get a small group in your house to rebel.
You’ll be suprised how well it works.
Sadly, people don’t have the guts
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June 15th, 2010 at 1:57 am
yes. You are in contract and there likely was a claus that said if the house was sold you would be given notice to vacate, but still had to fulfill the contract. So they have the deposit? If not be glad they are doing this as otherwise you wouldn’t get jack.
Now if they require payment they have to allow you to stay. But if they are kicking you out now, they can’t collect rent, though it will take legal action to hold that. It is worth the fight imo!
If they are letting you stay to fulfill your lease, but not offering renewal of the lease, they have that option.
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June 15th, 2010 at 2:10 am
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act
Federal Legislation Helps Innocent Renters
Share Article | Oct 13, 2009 Suzanne Bechard
With foreclosures so common all over the United States, many renters fear being left out in the cold if their homes are sold in foreclosure.
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act ("PTFA") is a tenant-friendly law that seeks to remedy the problems many renters have faced in the recent wave of foreclosures when their landlords lost the leased property to foreclosure. In essence, many renters were simply forced out of their rented homes when the properties were sold. In some states, foreclosure automatically terminated leases, with renters receiving as little as three days’ notice of eviction.
Tenants in Foreclosed Houses Must Receive 90 Days Notice to Vacate
PTFA provides that if there is a foreclosure on any dwelling or residential real estate after May 20, 2009, the person who takes legal title after foreclosure takes the property subject to the following terms:
•The new owner must give any preexisting "bona fide tenant" at least 90 days notice to vacate the premises.
•The 90-day notice requirement applies if the tenancy is for a term of years, month-to-month or terminable at-will.
•The 90-day notice requirement applies even if the renter has no formal lease but does have a verifiable history of paying rent.
•Unless the purchaser of the foreclosed property intends to occupy the premises as his or her primary residence, the new owner cannot break the lease.
What is a "Bona Fide Tenancy" Under the PTFA?
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act applies only to "bona fide" tenancies or leases. Under the law, a tenancy or lease is "bona fide" only if:
•The tenant is not the child, spouse or parent of the landlord in foreclosure.
•The lease or tenancy was the result of an arm’s-length transaction.
•The rent under the lease is not substantially below fair market rent for the property.
•The rent has not been reduced by a federal, state or local subsidy. However, the PTFA does apply to rental units occupied by holders of Section 8 vouchers.
What if the New Owner Violates the PTFA?
If a renter believes he or she has been served with an eviction notice in violation of the PTFA, he or she should contact an attorney specializing in landlord tenant law. According to NeighborWorks America, violations of the PTFA may be reported to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which includes PTFA compliance in its bank examinations, and to the Federal Trade Commission.
The Protections of the PTFA End in 2012
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act contains a sunset provision, which means that it is set to expire at a specified time. In this case, the protections of the PTFA are set to terminate on December 31, 2012. Until that time, renters whose homes have been the subject of foreclosure are protected against having their leases broken with little or no notice by the new landlords.
Read more at Suite101: The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act: Federal Legislation Helps Innocent Renters http://law.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_protecting_tenants_at_foreclosure_act#ixzz0qHv7xRFc
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http://law.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_protecting_tenants_at_foreclosure_act
June 15th, 2010 at 2:46 am
YES! You still must pay the rent. Now that the bank has taken possession you must pay the rent to the bank or their representative. You do not get to live there rent free. You can be evicted if you do not pay.
If you have a lease they are required to honor it. If you do not they are required to give you 90 days notice.
EDIT: Then no. You are to pay the rent to the bank or the new owner. The old owner does not get it.
I thought you meant the realtor for the bank.
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I’m a property manager
June 15th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Pay the rent, but document it by making a photocopy of the check, and get a written receipt from the leasing agent. The new owner will have to sort it out with them. Wait until the 14th and see if the new owner contact you about new arrangements.
Brush up on your rights and the new laws past last year that will pertain to you ….
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Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009
Tenants must be given at least 90 days notice; tenants with leases must be permitted to remain until the end of the lease, except that a lease can be terminated with 90 days notice by a purchaser who intends to occupy the property.
http://www.tenantstogether.org/article.php?id=723
http://www.hacla.org/en/rel/472/
http://consumer-rights.suite101.com/article.cfm/tenant_rights_when_a_home_is_in_foreclosure
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June 15th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Yes, you still owe rent. You didn’t think that just because the house foreclosed and now has new owners ( probably the bank ) that you could just live their rent free did you?
You would also be smart to pay your rent as directed by this realtor. There was a law signed that protects people who are renting property that is foreclosed on. It gives you 90 days from the time it is foreclosed to find a new place to live. You cannot be kicked out UNLESS you are NOT paying rent. Only other way you would leave before the 90 days is if this realty company were to offer you a "cash for keys" deal where you leave the place broom clean in good condition and they will pay you money to move earlier than the 90 days. You also could choose to move if you like, but if you choose to leave, you don’t get paid for that.
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June 15th, 2010 at 4:08 am
The realty company is presently collecting rent for the new owner. You are not entitled to live there for free now, you either pay the rent or they will evict you.
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June 15th, 2010 at 4:39 am
The realty agents are violating the law and committing fraud by collecting rent or any other money, including the cleaning deposit because the cleaning deposit is owned by the renter to the previous owner and not the realty agents. The realty agents were acting as property managers and as such their obligation to collect rent or a cleaning deposit ended when the house was sold to the new owner and all monies due the previous owner up until the date the house was sold to the new owner are to be paid to the previous owner by the realty agents and were there any amounts due to by paid by the renter to the realty agents and the realty agents didn’t collect on the money that was due prior to the sale of the foreclosed house they are not permitted by law to collect the money from the renter and will have to pay the money themselves to the previous owner upon demand by the previous owner. The realty agents are obligated under the real estate laws of the particular state to pay the cleaning deposit to the new owner and not keep it for themselves if they still hold the cleaning deposit, which in most cases they do. You are under no obligation to pay the realty agents rent for the benefit of the previous owner and the new owner may either extend you on the existing rental contract or give you 90 days notice to vacate. The realty agents can’t represent the previous owner in any further transactions regarding the same property because the previous owner doesn’t own the property . The previous owner owes the cleaning deposit to the new owner either personally or through the realty agents because the rental contract extends to the renter until the new owner gives a 90 day notice to vacate to the renter. The realty agents are in fact committing fraud by collecting rent for the benefit of the previous owner because they no longer are obligated to pay the rent to the new owner unless the new owner signs them to a contract to collect rent for the benefit of the new owner. The rent that is due on the 15th is rent that is under contract to be paid to the previous owner and the rental agents are not permitted to collect rent on properties for which they no longer have a contract to collect or represent as the contract to do so ended when the house was sold to someone else. I suggest you not pay any rent or cleaning deposit to the realty agency until you know for a fact that they are collecting the rent for the new owner and not the previous owner who lost the house to foreclosure. You are at this time under no obligation to do so and you can demand to see the agreement the new owner has with them to collect rent from you as proof they are entitled to do so. Were you to be vindictive and want to get the realty agents in deep trouble you can go ahead and pay the rent to them and then report them to the police and your complaint would be that they are committing fraud to you by collecting money that was not permitted by law for them to collect because they collected the money by fraudulently telling you to pay it for the benefit of the previous owner when they no longer were permitted by law to collect the money for the benefit of the previous owner. The rental agents can’t enforce the loss of your cleaning deposit as they are no longer bound by the previous contract to collect money for the previous owner. It appears to me the realty agents are either stupid or in desperate need of money as they are trying to call your bluff. You have the law on your side and it is now up to you to decide what you are going to do. I suggest you start looking for another place to live as the new owner may want you to vacate and you may as well start looking now so you won’t be pressured were the new owner to give you a 90 day notice to vacate. The new law for renters who are renting property that goes to foreclosure allows the renter to have a 90 day notice rather than a 30 day notice as it was in the past. It may be to your benefit for you to contact the new owner and learn if the new owner will want you to vacate, keep the same rental agreement or enter into a new rental agreement as that will answer a lot of your questions. It appears that some people who answered your question didn’t read the statement you made that the reallty agents are collecing rent for the previous owner which may make it necessary for you to consider what I have told you as they answered with what appears to be an incorrect understanding of your question. Good luck.
References :
Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009