Renters / Tenants Rights ???

[Fish Chris]

So, we kind of had a bombshell dropped on us today {we > my 6 room mates, and myself....huge house, but I always got the best deal, master bedroom + garage}

The owners use to live here, but moved out about 1 year ago, after buying another house, in the same town.

So this morning, we get this big legal notice on the door, stating that the bank is fixing to take this house back, for the owners failure to make payments (default)

Now, I REALLY liked my living arrangement here, and this really sucks.

However, the notice said that we had 20 days, for the house to be put up on the market and if..... read > IF the house was bought buy a new owner, that they would need to give us a 60 day notice of eviction. So that's 80 days from now "IF" the house was to sell. But what if it doesn't ?

Oh, and then it went on to say that we could be granted extra time, depending on circumstances, and we may with to contact a lawyer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, in any case, we are all a little PO'd that we have worked to pay rent on time, and did our part to make everything straight....... While they were taking that money, and doing whatever with it > besides paying the mortgage

80 days free rent.... eh..... I think I'd rather have just stayed. 6 months ? Hmmmm. Maybe. 1 year free rent ? {because I hear that this is happening all the time} and then I'd be totally okay with the whole thing !

Your thoughts ?

Fish

[Bassn Blvd]

My thoughts? Pocket your rent money, stay as long as possible and start looking for a place to go to. You never owned the property so this day had to come sooner or later, unfortunately it's sooner. It sux you have to leave a nice house/living arrangements, but you can find another deal.

Good luck.

P.S.

I wouldn't waste my money on an attorney.

[SirSnookalot]

As a renter you are entitled to reside in the property for the time period paid for and as an renter you are a victim of this pending foreclosure. IMO only the renter who's name is on the lease has any rights and a renter can not put the home up for sale, as they don't own it. Either the owner or the bank will put the home up for sale, conventional wisdom would think a bank would like the home occupied, easier to sell and maintained to a certain degree. But conventional wisdom these days is not what it used to be.

Having the master bedroom and garage you may be paying more than 1/6 of the rent, doesn't entitle you to any more legal consideration, unless you are the lessee. Trying to stay in the home probably is delaying the inevitable, move now and be done with it.

[K_Mac]

You have been given 80 days notice that it is time to go. You have been given exactly what you paid for over the past year. This seems fair to me. What the owner did with his money or the circumstances of you having to move are really not your issue. Not paying for any additional time there seems less than honest to me. Just my opinion. Moving, and renting are two things I never intend to do again...good luck.

[preach4bass]

Buy the house, collect rent from your 6 roommates, and you never have to worry about this again!

[MCS]

I am in an similar situation my owner lives in miami and we recently got paperwork from a lawyer sent to the house. Florida law and there is a Federal law in 2009 that protects a renter in a foreclosure situation. if you have a legal lease you have the right to occupy the house until that lease ends. We contemplated if these were foreclosure papers should we stop paying rent? The answer is you will pay rent to the landlord until the Bank takes over as owner then you are obligated to fulfill your end of the lease to the new owner, the bank. They have here in FL 90 days if the house is sold to vacate, the Cash for Keys is only an option that they may offer you and you do not have to take it if you like living there. I would deffinately check out the renter tenant laws in your state in addition to federal. Also if you plan to stay contact the bank explain the situation and pay the rent, you don't want your credit

Hope this helped, good luck.

http://www.ehow.com/...losed-home.html

http://www.ehow.com/...oreclosure.html

It is called "the protecting tenants at foreclosure act of 2009"

[J Francho]

I don't have any advice here, but want to wish you better luck. That stinks.

[Root beer]

Did you sign a lease for x amount of months? For instance, if you signed a 12 months lease and you gotta be out before the 12th months, isn't there a breach in lease contract on the owner's part? Or is there a clause in the lease agreements about these kind of things? I'm not lawyer, just taking a stab at another angle. Otherwise I'd say screw it and move out. No reason to spend money on something the bank is inevitable going to take unless you wanna buy it from the bank.

[SirSnookalot]

Not that buying is a bad idea, but there are questions you need the answers to first.

Is this the right home to buy?

Can I qualify for a mortgage?

Can I make the mortgage payments if I don't have full occupancy?

Insurance and property taxes are not fixed costs.

The home may pass inspection, but how long until the furnace, a/c or roof needs to be replaced?

The Loomis you intended on buying this month may have to on the back burner, you have a plumber coming out or a similar situation.

Not an intention of a political debate, but there is talk of changing the tax code and maybe the elimination of mortgage interest deduction.

If the home can be bought right, building equity is a good thing.

I'd probably look for a smaller place and live alone, rent or buy.

[Redlinerobert]

Chris, I'm a real estate broker here in CA. I may be able to help. check your in box.

[retiredbosn]

Glad someone (Robert) can point u on the right direction. Tennant's rights have some federal protection and the state also has laws. If u r in the position to buy u may be able to make a sweet deal with the bank, especially if the owners who just moved had paid more than half the amount owed.

[Fish Chris]

Much thanks to all.

And Redline, I just shot you a PM. Thanks again.

Peace,

Fish

PS, I just wanted to say, when I first posted this, I was concerned about anybody thinking we were trying to "get over" and that all we cared about was free rent. In reality, given the choice, we ALL would have rather just continued to pay our rent, and for none of this to have ever happened !

In reality, what our Landlords did, was nothing short of a scandalous scheme, to help them finance their new house, on the other side of town. It seems to me that what they did should be illegal. But I am finding out that this exact same kind of thing is happening all over the place ! ....my neighbors brother in law..... my bosses cousin... etc, etc.

We were even thinking that we "might" be open to making a deal with the bank, to pay a monthly rental fee, until the house is actually sold... IF it were a decent deal, of course.