I must confess: I am a renter and my landlord is being foreclosed on

I have now officially become a “victim” of the foreclosure crisis. I don’t own a home, I do not have a mortgage and the ironic part of this is that my job actually entails assisting borrowers online that are in foreclosure.

Never would I have thought that I would be caught with my family in a home that is soon to be foreclosed on.

I have written about this new phenomenon called “predatory renting” a few times over the last year and it seems to be spreading across the country like wild fire.

The perfect crime is being perpetuated across America and there seems to be no laws or any way to prevent it.

A new scam has been born with the advent of foreclosure boom. Predatory Renting

“This is an explosion,” said Judith Liben, a lawyer at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. “This isn’t business as usual. These are investors that overleveraged themselves, and the renters are collateral damage in the mortgage crisis.”

Real estate flippers and investors are apparently renting their homes, not paying their mortgage and skipping out of town with their renter’s cash and security deposits. Leaving unsuspecting tenants to suffer and be kicked out on the street, often with only 72 hours to vacate and move their belongings.

Yes, my landlord is taking my money and not paying her mortgage. I knew my gut was 100% correct when a man from Washington Mutual came to the door the other day and taped a note on the door to call their “field inspector”.

I am pretty pissed off at the whole situation and especially at my dead beat land lord who appears to be breaking some type of law. Right? Wrong!

My research has turned up with a few states that have laws that protect renters from predatory renting and even California has implemented new tenants rights in regards to foreclosure.

This came out in the Washington Post today:

The District has some of the nation’s strongest tenant protection laws. D.C. renters can stay put after a house is foreclosed on, said Julie Becker, a senior staff lawyer at the District’s Legal Aid Society.

The tenant would then pay rent to the bank until the bank sells the home. If a new owner wants to move in, it’s up to him or her to evict the renter, Becker said. If the owner does not move in, the tenant has the right to stay.

The Office of the Tenant Advocate, an independent city agency, now receives 10 to 12 calls a week from panicked renters, said Lennie Mitchell, the agency’s spokesman. Next week, the agency plans to post a form on its Web site that tenants can send to the banks informing them of D.C. laws. It plans to follow up with a marketing blitz that includes public-service TV ads.

Virginia and Maryland laws are less renter-friendly, basically leaving tenants at the mercy of the new owners once a foreclosure is final.

In Virginia, that can take up to two months as the lenders and courts deal with paperwork, said Kristi Cahoon, a lawyer at Legal Services of Northern Virginia. Until then, tenants often live rent-free.

It looks like California has just implemented a new law to protect tenants. Read below for more info.

San Fransisco Gate:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered help to struggling California homeowners today, signing a bill that aims to keep many of them from losing their properties to foreclosure.

“Half a million Californians have subprime loans that would jump to higher rates over the next two years,” Schwarzenegger said at a signing ceremony in Oakland. “Those people need help.”

Under the law, mortgage holders will be required in 60 days to begin contacting homeowners at least 30 days before issuing a notice of default.

In addition, the law immediately gives tenants 60 days to move out of foreclosed dwellings before they face eviction, replacing existing law that allowed 30 days. It also immediately authorizes local governments to impose fines as high as $1,000 on lenders who do not maintain foreclosed properties.

Moe Bedard:

Thank goodness that this new law was recently passed. Now, my family and I will at least have 60 days to find a new home. That is much better than 3 days!

PLEASE BEWARE OF PREDATORY LANDLORDS!

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