Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A friend and Virginia bank lawyer once told me that, if the lease was executed prior to the notice of foreclosure, that a bank would generally honor the lease. Meaning, if the tenant of a foreclosed property had 6 months left on the lease, then the tenant could remain for the 6 months. With that said, the bank usually wants the tenant out immediately, and to that end the bank would release the tenant from the lease if the tenant desired it. The tenant would likely lose their deposit, however, since the deposit holder is the previous owner.
This very thing happened to me in Roanoke, VA, before we moved down to the Cary area. In between selling our horse farm, and deciding where we wanted to move, we leased a nice home in a golf course community. Six months later we learned that the owner had pocketed our $1,695 deposit as well as the $1,695/mo we had been paying for rent! He stopped paying the mortgage the day we moved in. In an interesting twist of fate, it turned out to be a money saver, because by then I had already moved my family to the Cary area. The bank was happy to let us out of our lease, and I ended up saving $10,170 in lease payments on the empty house in Virginia.
1. Has this house been a rental house from before you lived there?
2. If yes, who takes care of the lawn? Are you (the renter) responsible for your own lawn care?
3. If #1 and #2 are yes, then chances are that the prior tenant was also responsible for care of the lawn. And that leads me to believe...
4. Prior tenant is the one who hired a lawn care service and
5. Prior tenant didn't pay the bill and
6. They moved out of the house, leaving it vacant and ready for another tenant and
7. You're the new tenant, seeing the notices of non-payment.
If the last person to live in the house was the house's owner(s) then it doesn't mean they haven't paid the mortgage...it means the lawn care service wasn't paid.
So... the owner of the house needs to be contacted and they need to either
1. Pay the bill if it was they who hired the service and they were living in the house at the time or
2. Contact the prior tenants and send the bill to them or
3. Let the lawn care service have a forwarding address for the prior tenants
ETA: What other notices have you received on the door besides the lawn service?
My answers below in purple (I think....I just figuring out this message board thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lottamoxie
Wait a second...
First things first.
1. Has this house been a rental house from before you lived there?
No....the last tenant was the owner as apparently they were trying to sell the house
If the last person to live in the house was the house's owner(s) then it doesn't mean they haven't paid the mortgage...it means the lawn care service wasn't paid.
So... the owner of the house needs to be contacted and they need to either
1. Pay the bill if it was they who hired the service and they were living in the house at the time or
I told the lawn service that we would no longer need them, so we are not incurring new charges (not that we would be responsible anyway since we didn't contract with them). However, what bothers me is that the owner apparently owes for approximately 20 different service dates totaling over $400 going back almost 18 months.
I just find that when people don't pay ONE bill, there are often others not being paid and since other bills aren't likely to be posted on the door, this is the one I'm wondering about. Theoretically, their other bills are being forwarded to them.
what bothers me is that the owner apparently owes for approximately 20 different service dates totaling over $400 going back almost 18 months
What's also bad is that the lawn service kept servicing the client all those times even though they hadn't paid a dime. That's a really good way to run a business into the ground (pun intended). If I owned that company the customers would never be allowed to be more than 1 payment behind at any time or else the service would stop until they were current.
I know someone whose home I was going to sell but after he lost his job, he decided to let his home go into foreclosure.
He has been living in the house, paying no mortgage, for almost a full year.
From what he tells me, before the house went into foreclosure, he received paperwork from the mortgage company that was addressed to him AND TO "RESIDENT". It had the home address.
Maybe this was a way for the lender to make sure that the home didn't have renters?
He also suggested that if you have any concern with the home you are renting being allowed to go into foreclosure, you should contact the COUNTY SHERRIF because they are the ones that handle the evicition notices.
The company which handled the rental agreement should be in the know and contact the homeowner about the unpaid lawn service bill.
As a landlord with a property manager, I would be highly ticked if a renter called me to ask me if I was paying my mortgage. I think jumping from unpaid lawn care bill to assuming house imminently in danger of foreclosure is a big leap. The agent should be the one to make the efforts to find out the facts.
The company which handled the rental agreement should be in the know and contact the homeowner about the unpaid lawn service bill.
As a landlord with a property manager, I would be highly ticked if a renter called me to ask me if I was paying my mortgage. I think jumping from unpaid lawn care bill to assuming house imminently in danger of foreclosure is a big leap. The agent should be the one to make the efforts to find out the facts.
I don't think there was a rental company involved.
We rented the house through a Real Estate agent. His response upon me inquiring about whether the homeowners are up to date on their mortgage was, "Oh, I'm sure they are". Thanks...that's helpful. We don't have any contact with the homeowners....not even a phone number so I can't ask them directly. I used to think that for the most part, everyone paid their bills, but I don't think that you can assume that anymore and I don't think it's out of line to ask when you're paying rent on a home that could potentially get pulled out from under you with minimal notice. It happens a lot and has happened to a couple of people we know. It's a big thing to move 5 people and over 2000 sq. ft. of stuff.
My original question was more aimed at....is there a way through public records and such to check up on this or do I have to rely on the agent's "Gosh, I think so" answer. Some of the previous suggestions are places to start toward that end I think.
We rented the house through a Real Estate agent. His response upon me inquiring about whether the homeowners are up to date on their mortgage was, "Oh, I'm sure they are". Thanks...that's helpful. We don't have any contact with the homeowners....not even a phone number so I can't ask them directly. I used to think that for the most part, everyone paid their bills, but I don't think that you can assume that anymore and I don't think it's out of line to ask when you're paying rent on a home that could potentially get pulled out from under you with minimal notice. It happens a lot and has happened to a couple of people we know. It's a big thing to move 5 people and over 2000 sq. ft. of stuff.
My original question was more aimed at....is there a way through public records and such to check up on this or do I have to rely on the agent's "Gosh, I think so" answer. Some of the previous suggestions are places to start toward that end I think.
Ask the agent to confirm payment.
There is no public records confirmation that someone is up to date.
Public records can only help alert you when things are becoming an issue, which is a little later than you want to know.
Records would be more of a "canary in the coal mine" detection means.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
