Are you renting an apartment, a single-family home, or a condo? Are you worried about the increasing number of foreclosures and that one morning when you wake up, the sheriff is knocking at your door and then informing you that you have to leave because there is a new owner?
It is better to be prepared than worry yourself to death, right? First of all, it would be a good idea to know whether your landlord is under threat of foreclosure. It is one of your rights as a tenant to have a copy of the Notice of Default. In fact, in some states, like California, you don’t even have to be a tenant to be able to get a copy of this document.
Requesting for a copy is easy to do, most especially in California because anyone can do it and it is quite cheap. You can ask for a copy of the form for the Request for Copy of Notice of Default from the customer service of the title company that is closest to your home.
What you need to do next is to get some information from the deed of trust for the property that you are renting. You may be able to get a copy of this deed through an online source but this is for a fee. So, why not grab the information for free by making a phone call to the title company? Ask them about the document number, trustor, beneficiary, book, and page because you will require these data for the Request for Copy of Notice of Default.
After completing the form, you get it notarized and then head towards the office of your county recorder. You might need to pay a certain fee to get the form recorded but the cost is minimal. After this, all you have to do is wait. In the event that the said property is foreclosed, they will mail to you a copy of the Notice of Default. After the notice is received, the foreclosure process would take a few months to complete so that you have sufficient time to locate another place for you to stay.
What Are Your Rights If There Is Indeed a Foreclosure?
Unfortunately, each state has a different treatment of the tenant in case the foreclosure for a property has been completed. You may still be permitted to stay for a period of time ranging from only a few days to 60 days. If the term of the lease has not yet expired, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the landlord at a Small Claims Court. You will have to consult your attorney if this is possible.
If the lawsuit is possible, you may be able to recover some of the costs that you will incur when moving to another place. These may include the costs involved in locating a new home, the fee that you will have to pay for the moving services, the loss of the security deposit, the money required to make a security deposit for the new home, and the additional cost if the new rent is higher. Always check with your landlord if he might be willing to return the security deposit to you because some states make the rental agreement null and void.
You Might be Able to Receive Some Money to Pay the New Rent for the First Month!
Got your attention on that one, didn’t I? Well, this money may come from the new owner of the property, which is oftentimes the lender. This is the principle known as cash for keys, which you might be able to get if the new owner wants you to move out even before the period prescribed by law.
They’ll try to be tough so be prepared! So, in exchange for you leaving sooner, request for cash for keys and you might be able to obtain sufficient funds for a new security deposit and the first rent. Just make sure to have this agreement in writing before you hand over the keys.
New Legislation That May Interest You
Here is one proof that the federal government care for you! With this legislation in force, most of the leases will remain in effect even after a foreclosure. For those who are month-to-month tenants, they will be given a minimum of 90 days to find another home.
But here is one loophole: if the buyer of the foreclosed property has bought the lease rental along with the property, you may be unlucky because you could be asked to vacate the property within 90 days. If the buyer simply bought the property, he would have to wait until the lease expires before moving in.
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My brother in laws home its been foreclosed but he currently has tenants in the home. Now my question is how long do the tenants in that house have to move out. The tenants already received the letter from the court far as I was concern tenants have 30-60 days to move out but what I dont is from what day does the days start counting ? since the property was in foreclose or since they receive the letter from the court?