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For us it wasn't about getting a free ride, it was being mad about the landlord not telling us that she stopped paying the mortgage when we paid $3,000.00 every month and were never late on the rent. We feel like she was supposed to use the money for the mortgage. It was also about fixing things in the house when they broke so not to bother her, we should have bothered her.
I don't understand why she wants to meet in person to hand over the key. Is it for proof that we were living there? She didn't care about the key 10 months ago.
I don't think the OP has been back? But does he or she seriously expect us to believe that it wasn't about "getting a free ride"? Of course it was.
How nice for the OP to steal $30,000 from the LL. (And you can say the LL stole from the mortgage company, but that has nothing to do with the OP's actions.)
In our state, if the lender eventually owns the property as a result of the foreclosure action then she will pay her rent to the lender until she gets evicted. You can bet that the attorney for the lender will easily sue her as part of the extensive amount of paperwork they are already drafting as a result of the foreclosure.
The concept of placing legal notices in the newspaper constitutes actual notice and the tenant has no standing as to not knowing about the foreclosure if the legal notices were properly published. It's ironic that she stops paying rent once she knows the property is in foreclosure then blames the landlord for not giving her notice that the foreclosure is in process. Gee, I wonder why the landlord didn't want to disclose that if that's the sort of response that he got.
My family has been living in a house in CA for the past 6 years. It was foreclosed on 10 months ago, the landlord did not tell us about the foreclosure or warn us.
We found out about the foreclosure when the notice was posted on our front door. We called the landlord to discuss the foreclosure with her and she never called us back. We decided to stop paying the rent since we didn't know when we would have to move and we knew we would not get our security deposit back. The landlord never got back to us even when we didn't pay the rent (we thought for sure she would).
The house went to auction and then fell out, we think because the lien that has been place on the house because of the past HOA fees that were not paid for two years. We knew she wasn't paying the HOA fee's when she was still current on the mortgage.
Since the house didn't sell, the bank has offered the landlord a deal on getting her place back. She recently called us to see if we would like to set something up to start paying rent again and sign a lease (we were paying month to month). I told her no we do not trust her and her not warning us showed she did not care about our best interest.
Since I told her we did not want to stay and we are moving she said she would like the past money for the HOA fees and part of the rent. I told her she would not be getting any money from us. She said fine, when could she get the key back, I told her that I would send it to her. She said not she would rather meet in person.
My questions are can she sue us for old rent? I'm not sure she will even get the modified mortgage.
Do we have to meet in person to return the key? I would rather put it in a lock box on the door and let her know the combination. I really do not want to see this person. I think she wants to meet so she can have proof we were living there.
She says she is surprised she still own the place and surprised we are still there. She let the house go and now she is concerned about it.
Thanks in advance for any answers or advise.
There are a number of conflicting statements in this post and, since the OP has never come back to clarify (or maybe they just don't know), the facts are simply not clear.
A tenant should not pay rent to a former landlord if the bank has foreclosed on the mortgage and taken ownership of the house. But the tenant then owes rent to the bank. The tenant should verify who owned the house for what period of time and pay accordingly...but I highly doubt that will be the case here.
In our state, if the lender eventually owns the property as a result of the foreclosure action then she will pay her rent to the lender until she gets evicted. You can bet that the attorney for the lender will easily sue her as part of the extensive amount of paperwork they are already drafting as a result of the foreclosure.
The concept of placing legal notices in the newspaper constitutes actual notice and the tenant has no standing as to not knowing about the foreclosure if the legal notices were properly published. It's ironic that she stops paying rent once she knows the property is in foreclosure then blames the landlord for not giving her notice that the foreclosure is in process. Gee, I wonder why the landlord didn't want to disclose that if that's the sort of response that he got.
The problem is banks want their properties in good condition. A sued renter or evicted home owner is way more likely to damage the property extensively before moving out. Trough the last few years there's been plenty for publicity about programs that banks had "cash for keys" where you would get a lump sum to leave and keep the property in good shape. The tiny amount of money the bank stands to make off your rent is not worth it
For us it wasn't about getting a free ride, it was being mad about the landlord not telling us that she stopped paying the mortgage when we paid $3,000.00 every month and were never late on the rent. We feel like she was supposed to use the money for the mortgage. It was also about fixing things in the house when they broke so not to bother her, we should have bothered her.
I don't understand why she wants to meet in person to hand over the key. Is it for proof that we were living there? She didn't care about the key 10 months ago.
You are wrong. You can't stop paying for rent because you are mad. If you believe the landlord was treating you unfairly or in violation of your rental agreement or any other laws, you have recourse but that doesn't include not paying for rent.
If you lived in the place, you obtained a benefit. You are entitled to nothing else. What the landlord did with the money is none of your business. Do you want someone else to have a say what you do with your money?
That you have been treated badly isn't a question, no doubt you have. But that doesn't mean you live rent free which is exactly what you did. It isn't your job to manage or require anyone to which you pay rent to do anything other than maintain and abide by the rental contract's terms.
If the landlord failed to make repairs that they were responsible for, you have recourse to recover that the legal processes.
It was her house, you were renting it. In this market with so many houses in the foreclosure process or at risk, prospective renter are wise to add something to address this issue in their rental contracts.
Consider yourself lucky that the landlord isn't suing you. A judge isn't going to care much that the house went into foreclosure, the issue is you didn't pay rent and just how do you know that when you stopped paying rent that didn't contribute to the problem? What if the landlord wanted to "pay up" but couldn't because you withheld the rent? She could make this argument and increase the ante in a lawsuit.
Consider paying up and moving on. It is a mess and wasn't your fault until you stopped paying.
I like the idea of a renter stopping payment to a deadbeat owner.
Remember the whole time the renter was paying rent the owner was pocketing the cash and not making their mortgage payment.
This goes on for how many months? maybe quite a few before the bank gets around to foreclosing and the renter gets their first indication of trouble.
Now its time for the renter to save up some money so they can pay for a move they were not planning on and is not their fault.
The owner screwed the bank and the renters.
Now they want to come back and get paid?
forget it.
The number of excuses that tenants use to not pay rent is amazing. You see them all in many of the posts in this forum. They find something wrong with the property then decide that's an excuse to not pay any rent.
Some states have laws about equity skimming that make it a criminal offense for a landlord to not pay their mortgage after having received the rent, but it's rarely enforced.
The foreclosure process usually takes a long time and is usually accompanied by some sort of public notice; usually in the newspaper. In our state of Illinois it usually takes at least a few years. So any tenant who is paying attention to the newspaper, or who makes a trip to the recorder's office at least once a year will have knowledge of the foreclosure process long before they have to move out.
That's the whole idea behind the lender having to provide 'actual' notice in a newspaper as well as recording all of their court efforts at the Recorder's office. That allows the tenant to move out at the expiration of their lease (assumuing a typical one year lease) long before the lender will ever take over the property. Furthermore, most lenders will try to go after the rent payments are part of the foreclosure process.
The bottom line, at least in our state, is that it's extremely rare for a tenant to not be aware of a foreclosure process on the property, and that they'll have enough time to move before they are forced out. There's no legal reason for them to stop making rental payments to either the landlord or lender.
I like the idea of a renter stopping payment to a deadbeat owner.
As an opinion, you are expressing popular sentiments. As intelligent advice, it’s the worst.
Legally, the tenant has occupied the place and used it accordingly so they owe the rent to the landlord. Would you not pay for a meal you ordered and ate at a restaurant because the proprietor didn’t pay the produce vendor?
Second, the landlord can file suit for the payment of the rent and odds are with the concept that payment is due for services provided, I bet the courts uphold the tenant owes the money. If a court judgment is rendered against the tenant, it may now appear on their background info and could have a negative impact on credit and even employment opportunities.
To the OP, I suggest you speak to a competent legal advisor before withholding rent payment since I doubt anyone here who told you to withhold rent payments will stand beside you in court.
Well, You want an awful lot considering you've stayed rent free, by your choice, nearly a year?
I would want my money if I were your landlord too. What does she need to prove...it wouldn't be hard to prove you have been living there...Do you not pay the utilities either?
I think that you should do the right thing and pay her the money that you owe to her...if you were wanting to move, you would have done so, not waited 10 months, plus.
Last edited by JanND; 01-22-2013 at 09:07 PM..
Reason: edit text
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