Landlord Foreclosure

[sillel]

What is the name of your state? MA

I am one of 3 tenants renting a room in an owner occupied home. We have been there since 11/1/05. Recently found out the home has been in the foreclosure process since August. We of course were never told any of this & the only reason we were even know now was because we questioned a piece of mail she received which indicated MA Foreclosure Prevention on it.

This woman does have income(besides our rent) & assets but she does not have enough monthly income to handle the substantial mortage any longer so she never planned to attempt to keep the home. She moved us in on the pretense of having a home when in reality she knew since at least August that she as losing the house.. is there any leg to stand on as far as any recourse goes since she entered into a contract with us knowing full well that this was happening? Can this be fraud in a way?

Also, should the attorney's office be made aware that we are present in the home? I wasn't sure if they would even care, but I also thought they would have to notify us as well of any proceedings with the vacancy of the home, she has no intention of telling them that we are there & she actually did not even intend to tell us of the situation until it was all over.

I am concerned about making any future payments to her, I understand we do have to continue to pay until we vacate but should this be something paid to an attorney & held for the home?

thanks for any advice!

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by sillel

What is the name of your state? MA

I am one of 3 tenants renting a room in an owner occupied home. We have been there since 11/1/05. Recently found out the home has been in the foreclosure process since August. We of course were never told any of this & the only reason we were even know now was because we questioned a piece of mail she received which indicated MA Foreclosure Prevention on it.

This woman does have income(besides our rent) & assets but she does not have enough monthly income to handle the substantial mortage any longer so she never planned to attempt to keep the home. She moved us in on the pretense of having a home when in reality she knew since at least August that she as losing the house.. is there any leg to stand on as far as any recourse goes since she entered into a contract with us knowing full well that this was happening? Can this be fraud in a way?

Also, should the attorney's office be made aware that we are present in the home? I wasn't sure if they would even care, but I also thought they would have to notify us as well of any proceedings with the vacancy of the home, she has no intention of telling them that we are there & she actually did not even intend to tell us of the situation until it was all over.

I am concerned about making any future payments to her, I understand we do have to continue to pay until we vacate but should this be something paid to an attorney & held for the home?

thanks for any advice!

**A: until you receive notice from the court (if you ever do), you are to pay rent as agreed per your lease agreement. If you want, you can talk to the lender's or foreclosure attorney.

[pojo2]

Being in foreclosure does not mean the landlord will ever let the home be foreclosed on. Especially now that she has the income from her tenants. Foreclosure is a rather lengthy process that does not happen overnight and even if the foreclosure goes through the landlord has a period of time to even redeem the foreclosure.

The status of the home is really none of your business UNTIL and UNLESS it involves you. Neither is his/her mail make sure you do not commit a Federal Crime by going through others mail.

Oh and PREVENTION might just mean she is a couple of payments behind and the Mortgage holder does not want it to go further. Many many people get behind in their payments and even get pre foreclosure letters and catch up and life goes not.

If she is improperly renting to you then find out if she is breaking zoning ordinances or you might just flat out go to her and ask if she is having difficulties that will eventually end in her losing the home.

[sillel]

thanks for the info ..but I actually did not go through her mail.. it was printed on the envelope & that prompted us to question her in regards to it.. this is when she did in fact admit that the home was in foreclosure & she has no intentions of attempting to keep it. She stopped making any payments on the home 2/05 & knew by 8/05 that the foreclosure was happening.. she moved us in 11/05. And all this information is based on her admitting it to us upon questioning her not upon seeing the envelope with info on the outside of it, not on us obtaining anything that might be construed as illegal in any way.

In the last few days we have found out that she has severe alcohol & drug problems & has had these problems for quite some time. She also admitted at that time that she has not paid any money towards the mortgage since 2/05 & that our money has been paying the household bills & we now speculate, her "habits".

She also admitted that she had no intentions of telling us about this until she was told she needed to actually vacate the home.

I realize I did not include that information on the original post as I didnt think it would matter to the fact that the foreclosure is happening..but just wanted to explain a little further after reading your post. As you can see, because she is planning on letting the home go.. she has made this our business now. unfortunately for us.

[pojo2]

Actually it is still none of your business anymore than her filing for BK or if one of her animals or children die. Simply start looking for housing.

Depending on your rental agreements it is highly possible anyone buying the foreclosed property might have to honor that contract.

Have you and the other tenants thought about buying the property yourselves IF and WHEN it goes up for sell? Oh be advised that even after the foreclosure sell she could redeem and get her house back if her senses come back!

[sillel]

yes, I am aware that she could attempt to retain the house even after the foreclosure. it is possible but highly unlikely as she is going to go back into rehab next month. I may be wrong, but I think the house is the least of her worries right now & that is why she simply gave up on it.

I do agree that her personal life & what she does or doesnt do with our rent money is her personal business. But my only problem with it was that we have to give notice to her when we want to leave or we loose our deposit, etc.. but she was basiclly going to wait until they change the locks before even telling us & yet she has known all along. & yes, I am quoting what she told us.

As for buying, I certainly am not looking to own a $800,000 home with 2 people that I have only known a month.. so good suggestion but just not feasible.

And we are all lookingfor housing, luckily she claims we have time..but as you pointed out, this is none of our business so we wont really know now will we? not until they lock the house one day & we are out.. that was my main concern.. is there anyway to do anything about it at that point? As I said, legally we would be in trouble if we broke our lease without proper notice, so what about her? could she just allow the whole process to happen.. wait for the locks to change as she put it & then say.. by the way, you are out today? I realize the answer is probably she can do whatever she wants.. but we were just wondering about tenants rights in these situations.

oh & no, the lease does not cover a situation such as this so the new owner will not have to adhere to the lease.. it was just a very basic lease.

thanks, hope you dont feel that I am trying to argue with you.