foreclosure on rental unit

[gailwilson]

I have been renting 1/2 of a house since March 15th of this year (1yr lease). My landlord lives on the otherside of the house. My rent is due on the 15th of the month. On Sept 20th I received notice from HUD that the house is in foreclosure with the act of sale set for October 26th. I also received papers to return to HUD if I was interested in renting the house after the sale. I did complete and return those papers. On October 16th HUD denied me the right to continue to rent the unit after the sale. I am furious with my landlord. 5 days after I paid my rent I receive this foreclosure notice. As of Oct 15th I have not paid my rent. My landlord is harassing me. However he has not provided me with any information stating that he still owns the home. My landlord says he is in the process of filing bankruptcy to stop the sale to HUD.
Do I have the right to break my lease. I feel that I cannot trust my landlord even if the sale does not take place. This foreclosure is somthing that I know he has known about for several months. I was informed of the foreclosure by the HUD attorney. Otherwise I was none the wiser since the mortgage is not in my name. I want to break my lease and also I feel the landlord should return my security deposit. If he doesn't return the deposit, is it possible to bring him to small claims court.

Gail Wilson

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gailwilson:
I have been renting 1/2 of a house since March 15th of this year (1yr lease). My landlord lives on the otherside of the house. My rent is due on the 15th of the month. On Sept 20th I received notice from HUD that the house is in foreclosure with the act of sale set for October 26th. I also received papers to return to HUD if I was interested in renting the house after the sale. I did complete and return those papers. On October 16th HUD denied me the right to continue to rent the unit after the sale. I am furious with my landlord. 5 days after I paid my rent I receive this foreclosure notice. As of Oct 15th I have not paid my rent. My landlord is harassing me. However he has not provided me with any information stating that he still owns the home. My landlord says he is in the process of filing bankruptcy to stop the sale to HUD.
Do I have the right to break my lease. I feel that I cannot trust my landlord even if the sale does not take place. This foreclosure is somthing that I know he has known about for several months. I was informed of the foreclosure by the HUD attorney. Otherwise I was none the wiser since the mortgage is not in my name. I want to break my lease and also I feel the landlord should return my security deposit. If he doesn't return the deposit, is it possible to bring him to small claims court.

Gail Wilson<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You can break your lease based on L harassment and the HUD/foreclosure notice but you must still pay rent during the time you are living there. L must return your deposit but if L has no money and is filing BK, good luck. Your deposit probably has already been spent.