If you are renting, these times of continued real estate foreclosures should be enough to goad you to know your rights before you experience eviction due to your landlord’s foreclosure.
You do not have to wait for your landlord to tell you the property you are renting has been foreclosed and you have to move out immediately. A lot of distressed landlords do not notify their tenants properly in case of foreclosure for fear of having their properties vacated before the actual foreclosure is implemented.
Many of these troubled landlords also no longer have the money to pay back security deposits.There is one legal way for you to know in advance if your landlord is being foreclosed upon. You can request your county to notify you in case the property you are renting gets foreclosed.
While the procedure of requesting for notification varies from state to state, the steps are generally the same. To get this notification, you are typically required to file a request with your county recorder. You need information on the property such as name of trustor, name of beneficiary and document number, which you can get from the recorded deed of trust. You can obtain a duplicate of the recorded deed of trust from a title company.
After having the form notarized and after paying the filing fee, the county recorder then accepts your request and notifies you if the unit you are renting gets a foreclosure filing.
In California, real estate foreclosures take about three to four months to complete. With the notification, you will have enough time to prepare and will have reason to use your security deposit as your rent payment.
Under the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which took effect in 2009, you can stay in your unit for at least three months more if you pay your rent from month-to-month.
If you have a long-term lease, you can choose to file a complaint in a small claims court so you can recoup your deposit and claim compensation that you can use to move. You can also negotiate with the foreclosing lender for cash assistance.
If you made a large deposit and your landlord refuses to return it or no longer has the capacity to return it, it is best if you ask help from a lawyer. There could be laws that apply to your situation and enable you to recoup your money. State and federal legislators have already passed laws that protect renters from being abused in case of real estate foreclosures.
Joseph B. Smith has been educating buyers on the finer points of Real Estate Foreclosures at BankForeclosuresSale.com for over five years. Contact Joseph B. Smith through BankForeclosuresSale.com if you need help finding information about Real Estate Foreclosures.
