Tenant Resources (Honolulu, Waikoloa Village: sale, real estate, apartment)

[Koale]

Aloha, Aside from the Landlord/Tenant Hotline does anyone know of a good resource for Landlord/Tenant issues in our state? Situation...had a foreclosure notice of sale on our door yesterday. Landlord is feigning ignorance...Landlords name cannot be found on any internet search so far.
Nor is our Landlords name on the document left on our door. Of course tomorrow I will be on the phone to the Attorney on the notice but until then I thought I could research if I knew how.
Mahalo,
Koale

[KonaKat]

It is completely possible that the landlord does not know his owner is in foreclosure. Happens quite often. However I would have told a tenant that I would contact the owner immediately to see what's going on. There is no database for "landlords" that I am aware of. You could probably google any of the properties' addresses that we manage and our name would not pop up either. I would call the landlord again on Monday and ask him if he has contacted the owner yet.

[Koale]

He is the owner, suppossedly.

[mdand3boys]

Try looking up the property through the county database. Although the site says owner info is disabled due to privacy concerns, it displays the info anyway. (poor web site design, huh?)

Hawaii County Property Info
.

[KonaKat]

You can enter the TMK or the address, and get the full record that shows the owner's name.

[Afishwithabike]

If you're looking for general landlord/tenant advice you could call the Legal Aid hotline. They have a phone intake system.

Legal Aid Society of Hawaii HOME

[hotzcatz]

What island?

Generally, it takes several months before folks have to vacate a building once a foreclosure process starts. How far ahead have you paid rent? I'd think if the building is foreclosed on, your rental agreement with the landlord wouldn't be in effect anymore? Unless you are on a month-to-month type rental already.

[Koale]

Aloha Hotzcatz... we have a lease that runs through Jan 16th. I'll be on the phone this morning and get it figured out. We're on the BI. It is a privately owned condo in Elima Lani in Waikoloa Village. Of course, the bank in Plano Tx could give me no info cuz I'm not 'authorized' on the account. Yes, I've been up since 2am and called them at 3am (8am their time). Hopefully the Honolulu Attorney assigned to this case will be more forthcoming for me. It's going to be a very long day... then off to work at 3pm. sheesh...
Mahalo,
Koale

[hotzcatz]

Well, Jan 16th is pretty close as far as things in foreclosure go. You may want to start looking around for another place just in case, but if you have to leave because of foreclosure, I'm sure you won't be responsible for paying the rest of the lease rent. Rent is an exchange agreement between a landlord and a tenant. He provides the space you pay him for it. If he can't provide the space, you don't have to pay him for it, at least IMHO but I'm not an attorney type person so my opinion isn't legally binding.

I don't know if your deposit will be in jeopardy or not since if the fellow isn't able to keep the place from foreclosure, he may no longer have the deposit to return to you. So, just to be on the safe side, plan on not seeing your deposit back when making exit plans. He is legally supposed to return it to you if you leave the place clean and all, but in the real world when folks are in the kind of hurt where they lose real estate, things don't always work the way they should.

In a perfect world, the new owner would want to keep you in as a tenant at the same rate (or even less!) as the current owner. I don't know if the lease is sold with the property or not, but there's only three months of it left, so even if the new owner left you in place, it would be up for renegotiation in three months anyway. Are there other units in the condo you like better which are rentals?

[kani-lehua]

please try the following link: Handbook for the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (landlord/tenant code)

or phone: 808-586-2634 or 1-800-513-8886 for the office of consumer protection

according to the code, the law requires: "...if the unit is sold during the term of the lease, both the new owner and the tenant shall be bound by the terms of the agreement. section 45 (b)

section 44 (f) when the dwelling is sold: "...if the landlord sells or transfers the landlord's interest in a dwelling before termination of a rental agreement, the new landlord shall, within 20 days, give written notice to the tenant of the amount credited as the security deposit. if the new landlord does not give written notice to the tenant, it will be assumed that the tenant has paid a security deosit equal to no less than mone month's rent at the time the tenant originally rented the unit..."

not sure if the law and/or code is applicable in a foreclosure.

that being said, "...disclosure of owner or manager: the tenant shall be given, in writing, the name and address of the owner or the owner's agent authorized to receive rent, notices and demands. this information must be kept current at all times. if the required informatin is not given to the tenant, the person renting to the tenant becomes the responsibile party for all obligations of the landlord under the code..." section 43 (c) also: "1. in single-owner apartment buildings the required disclosures may be made by placing the notice in elevators and one other conspicuous place or, if there are no elevators, in two conspicous places. 2. in aparttment buildings with more than one owner, a notice shall be posted within the unit..."

whenever we have a new tenant/rental agreement, either the above link is given to the tenants and/or a copy of the landlord-tenant code.