Renting; home went to auction (Highlands Ranch, Center: sale, apartments, foreclosure)

[relohunter]

Hi everyone.
On Tuesday, the homeowner called and told us he lost the house. They were trying to get a loan modification for some time now. Long story short, the auction was Thursday.
At present, we are in the process of packing and searching for a new home. I have some questions.

1. Will a representative from the mortgage company contact us?

2. At some point, we will get an eviction notice/notice to vacate. How soon should we expect to see that, and how long will we have to exit the property, once that notice is posted?

3. At what point is the homeowner no longer 'the owner'? As I understand, once the deed has been processed, and transferred to the mortgage company, the individual is no longer the 'owner'. How long does that take?
The reason I am asking is, they suggested, that it could take up to 45 days for the deed to complete the process. Therefore, they own the home til that time. So. Do we owe them rent during that time? The owner suggested we use the deposit for the March rent, though according to the lease, that must be done in writing. So, I do not think that is going to hold water.

BTW; we are looking for a home with at least a bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor with the kitchen and living room. My mother in law lives with us; so that's a requirement. Is that type of home a rarity here? We seem to be having trouble finding one like that.

Thanks!

[spacadet]

I can't answer your legal questions, but I can speak to your questions about finding a first floor bedroom and bathroom. We recently completed a search for first-floor bedrooms in rental property. It wasn't easy, but it's possible. We looked mostly at corporate apartment communities, but some rental condos as well.

I don't know what part of town you're looking in, but Palomino Park in Highlands Ranch has lots of options for 1st floor bedroom floorplans, in all three of its apartment communities. Green River has two-story townhomes, some of which have downstairs bedrooms and baths. The apartments in Red Canyon and Blue Ridge are all on one level, but some of them are quite home-like, with attached garages and front and back porches. The website indicates which floorplans are available on the first floor. Some of them are set up as handicapped units with ramps up to the front door, and have shower stalls in the first-floor bathrooms with no lip, into which a wheelchair can be wheeled. That's the type of apartment we ended up with.

Palomino Park - Apartments in Highlands Ranch

Click on "Leasing Center" to get to the floorplans.

You don't have membership privileges at the Highlands Ranch rec centers, but Palomino Park has lots of amenities including a rec center.

[surftb15]

Let me tell you a story.

One time , in Pittsburgh, a building that I lived in was condemned by the state.

When I was in court to get monies owed, the attorney I had was involved with a situation just like yours being heard on the same day.

Long story short, your lease is no longer valid. the bank can, AT ANY TIME, sell the home to ANYONE. They will not recognize your lease. Also, they may even do a sheriff sale to retain money that the property owner owes the bank. Once the bank owns the property, the lease is broken and you are no longer responsible to pay rent to the Landlord.

It is in your best interest to find a new place to live ASAP. Unless you want to purchase the home for below market value, you should move to avoid any conflict. Or , you can live there rent free until the bank sells the home. Because a lease is written between you and the LL, you really have no rights .

the bank legally owns the property now, regardless of deed.

[JDBattleMC]

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE:

You have 90 days to vacate AFTER being given notice under the TAFA (Tenants at foreclosure act) of 2009. Cease paying rent to your landlord as he is no longer your landlord at which point title has been transferred. Place the amount of rent you would normally owe to him in a separate account should the new owner choose to continue being your landlord. They dont have privity with your last lease and as such they are not entitled to the money under the lease unless they choose to become your new landlord. If they do not, they will then give you a legal notice to vacate. It must follow very strict rules - it cannot just say "Get out now." Furthermore, no matter WHAT they tell you - you have NINETY DAYS after their notice to vacate the property. That means that you should start looking now, but its not the panic mode.

Unlike what you have heard here, you DO in fact have rights.

For more info, read the press release related to the act:
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financ.../fil09056a.pdf

And again, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS SUCH.

[relohunter]

Thank you for all the replies everyone.
We will take all this information under advisement.
This is definitely not the most comfortable situation to be in.

EDIT:
I should add, that it is tempting to try to live rent-free as long as possible. Trouble is, since this is a foreclosed home,
a foreclosure sale may happen quickly. Then again, it may not. It boils down to how much risk, and what type of
risk, we are willing to take. By risk, I am referring to what spacadet has mentioned: a low probability of finding a home
with a bedroom on the first floor. Ranch style homes appear to be rare here. While we could go to a garden style apartment,
we don't intend to stay in an apartment long term. That means, yet another move. Which means, more expenses.
So we could try to live rent free for a month or two (or less, or more), and save our money. But then again, it may not
pan out that way.
If the 90-day rule holds, that would be probably the best situation. But we need to confirm.

Thanks

[2bindenver]

You can look up the foreclosure sale information on the public trustee's website. It could have been sold to a 3rd party bidder.

If there is a 2nd lien, then there are redemption rights. The 2nd, 3rd, and so on have to file a notice to redeem, then they have to pay all the money to the first or the 3rd party buyer.

Whomever bought it, they will get a certificate of purchase from the public trustee, after an 8 day waiting period where the sale can be cancelled by the lender.

If the lender bought it, then someone will stop by, knock on the door and probably offer you a cash for keys deal.

Sorry, and good luck.

[Timmyy]

There is a chance the bank will sit on the house for awhile. A lot of mortgage companies are doing that. They are releasing their inventory in very small quantities so they won't flood the market which would drive prices down even further. Either way, good luck in your search.

[relohunter]

Thank you 2bindenver and timmyy.
I did check the foreclosure auction sale for yesterday. I double checked it, looks like the lender was the sole bidder on the home.

I have a question about the 'cash for keys' deal. Would we be required to hand over the keys right there? Or would we have a couple days, up to a week, say?

Thank you!

[2bindenver]

no, just handing over keys, they make you an offer, and you negotiate.

[relohunter]

Ok thank you very much for the info 2bindenver. That would be the ideal situation; we hope it pans out that way.