watch this before you rent (Tampa, Riverview: foreclosure, renter, HOA fees)

[jessiesma]

on http://www.abcactionnews.com/investigators (broken link) last night there was a report about what can happen if you rent a single family home or condo. The piece said that IF a realtor KNOWS the house is in foreclosure or might go soon the realtor MUST disclose the pending foreclosure however, the OWNER is not required to tell the realtor and the realtor is NOT required to ask.

Be very sure who you are renting from if you opt for a private landlord.

You can be evicted if the house goes to foreclosure and that included for non-payment of HOA fees even if the mortgage is being met.

[pascobrother62]

Are you sure? You can't evict people just like that. Renters do have some rights is my guess. Furthermore, as a renter most of the time you can work things out with all people involved in a foreclosure, incl. the new owner.

[jessiesma]

is what Matthew Schwartz reported last night. Hence the link I posted. True you can sometimes work things out IF you know there's a problem. Schwartz profiled a woman who was given a very short notice and it was because the out of state owner had defaulted on HOA fees totaling $1,800. There was a happy resolution for her because the house was actually sold and the new owner was cooperative but I was just suggesting the questions to ask when you do rent because we have a lot of people coming form out of state who try to do things based on what they think they know. Florida is NOT renter friendly.

Our rights are very limited and this may shock you, pascobro, in this state a landlord only has to give 2 weeks notice when there's no lease. So if you've run your lease and stayed on you have virtually no protection. best to renew even if that raises your rent a bit.

Just watch the video if yoyu don't believe I got the facts right

Originally Posted by pascobrother62

Are you sure? You can't evict people just like that. Renters do have some rights is my guess. Furthermore, as a renter most of the time you can work things out with all people involved in a foreclosure, incl. the new owner.

[cjtex23]

Uggh! You're right....if there's no lease, there's no rights. *sigh*

Thanks for sharing.

[pascobrother62]

Originally Posted by jessiesma

is what Matthew Schwartz reported last night. Hence the link I posted. True you can sometimes work things out IF you know there's a problem. Schwartz profiled a woman who was given a very short notice and it was because the out of state owner had defaulted on HOA fees totaling $1,800. There was a happy resolution for her because the house was actually sold and the new owner was cooperative but I was just suggesting the questions to ask when you do rent because we have a lot of people coming form out of state who try to do things based on what they think they know. Florida is NOT renter friendly.

Our rights are very limited and this may shock you, pascobro, in this state a landlord only has to give 2 weeks notice when there's no lease. So if you've run your lease and stayed on you have virtually no protection. best to renew even if that raises your rent a bit.

Just watch the video if yoyu don't believe I got the facts right

Sure I believe you Jessie. It's understandable though that if you've run your lease, your protection is almost zero (even without the home going into foreclosure). I would not take the risk of renting without a decent lease, knowing I'd have to pack up within two weeks at any moment....

With a decent lease however, as a renter I do think you have some rights, even when the home you're renting goes into foreclosure.

[jessiesma]

you may be right but it would depend on if the new owner wants to honor it. Even with a lease, both parties usually have the right to terminate it early with notice. I know my current lease has a reasonable buyout clause for any reason. I think it would cost me a an extra month plus forfeiting the security.
But by the same token, the owners can give me reasonable notice and I'd have to leave. This is a "free will" state in all aspects.

Perhaps the news story used the term "eviction" a bit recklessly. The woman in the story received some notice. Actually, come to think of it, my first lease here in FL DID say the landlord could give just 2 weeks notice I think I had the same right but who can move in 2 weeks?

Originally Posted by pascobrother62

Sure I believe you Jessie. It's understandable though that if you've run your lease, your protection is almost zero (even without the home going into foreclosure). I would not take the risk of renting without a decent lease, knowing I'd have to pack up within two weeks at any moment....

With a decent lease however, as a renter I do think you have some rights, even when the home you're renting goes into foreclosure.

[annrose]

I leaved in CT. I had rented a single family home, I paid all my rents on time, the lease had a couple of month left, but in Nov 2006 I got a visit from a bank whom told me the house I lived in had been foreclosure and the bank wanted me out.Thanks god for statewide legal aide service I was due to be evicted in five days but with legal aide help I was able to have a little time to go I stay 4 month but it was real hell I couldn't sleep my kids and I suffered major stress, I keeped getting notice from marshalls every couple of days. we spend the holiday in horrible fear not knowing were we would move too .The owner didn't give back my two security dep. I end up moving to Riverview Florida. Its almost a year hear and life is just been hard on us. Now I receive a new lease to be renew yesterday Feb 11, 08 when my old lease is not over til the 31th of March 2008 and the rent is raised from $1375 to $1486 I told the property mananger who want the lease sign already I couldn't sign it because I was already having a hard time keeping up with the rent and bills and that I would look for another place to live I asked if I could atlease go for month to month so I didn't have to sign another year lease he insist I sign it and he will be back in the next day to pick it up I refuse to sign and hope I have luck finding another place to live that I can afford.

[jessiesma]

he gave you the lease this far in advance is because they have to know what their availability is and so as to give you enough time to find something. If you got a lease to sign at the end of your current lease and had that sort of increase what would you do? You are expected to give 30-60 days notice to vacate and you wouldn't have time to do that. He's given you 45 days and you knew you can't afford the increase so it's sad but he was within his rights to do this. I hope you can find something but understand, you've been given legal notice as of yesterday. He doesn't have to give you month - to - month and he probably has someone waiting at the higher rent. So sorry for your trouble. I wish I had better advice. Just get moving to find something.

Originally Posted by annrose

I leaved in CT. I had rented a single family home, I paid all my rents on time, the lease had a couple of month left, but in Nov 2006 I got a visit from a bank whom told me the house I lived in had been foreclosure and the bank wanted me out.Thanks god for statewide legal aide service I was due to be evicted in five days but with legal aide help I was able to have a little time to go I stay 4 month but it was real hell I couldn't sleep my kids and I suffered major stress, I keeped getting notice from marshalls every couple of days. we spend the holiday in horrible fear not knowing were we would move too .The owner didn't give back my two security dep. I end up moving to Riverview Florida. Its almost a year hear and life is just been hard on us. Now I receive a new lease to be renew yesterday Feb 11, 08 when my old lease is not over til the 31th of March 2008 and the rent is raised from $1375 to $1486 I told the property mananger who want the lease sign already I couldn't sign it because I was already having a hard time keeping up with the rent and bills and that I would look for another place to live I asked if I could atlease go for month to month so I didn't have to sign another year lease he insist I sign it and he will be back in the next day to pick it up I refuse to sign and hope I have luck finding another place to live that I can afford.

[TampaKaren]

This has been discussed in other threads at length. A lease will survive a sale, but not a foreclosure.

[jessiesma]

clarifying that, TK. Pascobrother seemed a bit skeptical about my post. I haven't seen the topic since I started looking at the forum so I apologize if I was redundant. I think it's valuable info that somone wouldn't think to ask about.

Originally Posted by TampaKaren

This has been discussed in other threads at length. A lease will survive a sale, but not a foreclosure.