How can I deal with this property management company ! (short sale, real estate)

[gaucon1973]

Hello everyone,

I hope you guys can give me some advices how to deal with this rental company..

I has been renting this house for one year and a half.. The lease expired in Feb09.. and we signed another contract for 6 more months ( which is ended at the end of this month ) We did not know the landlord stopped paying mortgage for the bank since Jan09 .. then in June, a lady from rental company called us and said the owner put the house for short sale and someone would come to the house to take pictures.. I was kind of shock cause my husband and I both work from home.. But she ensured me we would be Ok for awhile . She told me keep paying rent.. incase if I got kicked out of the house , they will refund the remaining days of the month rent that I paid for that month .. what a jerk ! then I told her I was not renew the contract when it ends. She also agree that ( but I was so stupid not put it in writting ) .. One morning, a sherift showed up at my door with papers show that the houses has been in preforeclosure and the owner has 60 days to reponse.. We thought that the rental company is gonna let us move out when the lease expired.. I just got the mail said I have to pay the rent until Oct 31 after we called them in August to make sure about the move out date.. ! They said we were supposed to give them a 60 days notice in writting! So here are the questions:
What happened if I moved out at the end of this month ? ( they still keep my one month security deposit )
Can I hire a lawyer to sue this company, cause they put a risk of us loosing our job ? ( we both work from home .. what happened if we are kicked out of the house because of the foreclosure process)

I do appreciate you feedback, and sorry for a long long message ..

thanks

[Broker Dave]

My advice is to call a Real Estate Attorney.

[annerk]

"Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009." This legislation provided that leases would survive a foreclosure -- meaning the tenant could stay at least until the end of the lease, and that month-to-month tenants would be entitled to 90 days' notice before having to move out (this notice period is longer than any state's non-foreclosure notice period, a real boon to tenants).

So they can't just throw you out. The law is clear. You are a month-to-month tenant, so you can stay as long as you want until THEY give you 90 DAYS notice.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc111/s896_enr.xml

I would also tell the property management that you want to know where your security deposit is, and get proof of that. If THEY are holding it, keep paying your rent to them, there's no reason you won't be able to get it back when you move. If the former landlord is holding it, tell them you will be putting the last months rent into an escrow account until you get your security back. (Make sure you do put it into escrow and provide them proof of this when it's due.)

[gaucon1973]

Thanks guys for your advice..I will call a real estate atorney to find out !