bank set to foreclose landlord's house

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long story short, I received a phone message a week ago that my landlord has been unable to catch up on her mortgage payments. She claims to be a lawyer, has had some illness and has been out of work. My roommate inquired with a real estate agent that claims this is her third time filing for bankruptcy and that she hasn't made payments this year. We're 5 months from the end of our lease (1 year) and she wants us to pay rent for April. She still has our security deposit and last month's rent, so ... what can/do we do? I spoke with her two days ago and she now says that we owe her rent, despite her phone message claiming we wouldn't owe anything until the bank sends us a notice. I honestly would love to get out of the lease asap, but would understandibly stay if it were free rent after all. So what comes next and what should we expect? Thanks, California tenant

 

[LL]

Follow your lease. It should state to whom rent is payable, and where, and how much. Follow it, until you get official notification that the bank is the new owner, and that your payments should be re-directed to the bank. It is not true that you do not owe anything until the bank takes it over.

Don't pay your last month's rent, but do send a certified letter stating that the last month's rent has already been paid, and that this is the last month.

You may have a hard time getting back your security deposit. If you are lucky, the bank will cover it, but they may fight you on it. Don't fail to pay rent in order to use up the security without discussing it with the bank.

 

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but ...

thanks ll for the response, but the fact that she has been bankrupt three times now, has our last month's rent and doesn't know when the bank will take over the house, if we pay this next month's rent, we might never see our last months' or security deposit? I'm worried that she'll mess up our credit and we'll not see what money she has of ours.