Should I do a credit check on my landlord?? (Coral Gables: foreclose, renter)

[stars99]

You can't just do a credit check on someone without their permission these days. As someone else said, check if there's a lis pendens. And go in the public records to see who the current owner is. Although it may be owned by an entity such as a trust or LLC.

Here is your remedy as a tenant if you get foreclosed.

http://www.hacla.org/en/rel/472/

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

Huh? Where have you been for the past several years? A month doesn't go by when there isn't a story in the paper about how a family is being punted out on the street because their landlord didn't pay the mortgage. There are other sources of news besides city-data.com.

They should be financially compensated and the lease contract is a good way to do it.

They were booted out because they ignored the summons they received.

[Lilybeans]

BTW, a foreclosure suit does not mean the home has been foreclosed. That is only after a final judgment. There is a huge difference.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by OrlandoRE_Miracle

You can't just do a credit check on someone without their permission these days. As someone else said, check if there's a lis pendens. And go in the public records to see who the current owner is. Although it may be owned by an entity such as a trust or LLC.

Here is your remedy as a tenant if you get foreclosed.

Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 - 9-Jun-09 press release or news release

You still must pay rent though. All new owners of property have to honor leases. Tenants should not ignore court papers though.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by kbrkr

We finally received the green light to start our move plans to Tampa. We will rent initially for a year so we can learn the area. I presume I will be credit checked by the owner of the homes we are looking at. I am very concerned about the credit worthiness of the landlord/homeowners as well.

Can I ask for their credit report so that the home I'm renting doesn't go into foreclosure while I'm residing in it???

Thanks all, great forum!
Al

I'm a LL and I give a signed statement to my tenants stating I have no mortgage on the house so I can't default on it...

I would never give my SSN to a tenant who is obvious is renting for a certain reason, otherwise a tenant would become a owner.

I don't think any employer will give his SSN to their employee....there are certains that are just the way they are and if a person wants it different that come to the other side.

As others have stated you can access the public records very easily and check a person out and see what their track record is. If you see one lien that is out of the ordinary, then don't rent from that person...

[algia]

Bentlebee...not everyone that rents is in bad shape and can't buy...my brother makes 6 figures , has stellar credit and works for the same school since 1988 and pays $700 rent smack down in the middle of Coral Gables since 1988....can't beat that!!! he has no reason to buy! We don't have a reason to buy either!

This whole "buying a home" is overrated....when you factor in ALL that it cost to maintain that home it makes a lot more sense to rent! Plus it's not like you can take your house to your grave...just one more material thing....we rather rent, care for the home we rent and not have any of the other headaches that come with home ownership...HOA's, Homeowners insurance...CDD's...blah, blah, blah...

[kbrkr]

Great information everyone. I'm not so concerned about a foreclosure as I am about having a responsible owner/landlord maintaining the property and doing repairs. Let say we have a small hurricane blow through Tampa and damages the roof, trees, Pool Cage; will a bank owned home be responsive to a tenant who is requesting repairs?

Also, let's say I'm in the house for a year and really don't want the added cost and inconvenience of a move, I would think after a 12 month lease on a foreclosed home, I would automatically revert to a month-to-month lease and that would be too volatile for me as I would have to always be prepared to move on a month's notice. Not so easy to do when you have a lot of crap! LOL

I know there are no assurances in life, but I would like to feel better about any property I'm renting by getting full disclosure from the landlord / owner.

Al

[Cheerdiva]

Being new to Fl (6 mos) I strongly urge that you do as much research on the Landlord that you can. I used a nationwide chain realtor thinking I would be ok. Come to find out, the landlord/property owner was in breach of contract and I received papers on my doorstep 2 weeks aftter signing a lease that property manager had breached their contract.

You can do background checks, may a cost you a few dollars. It will be worth it in the in.

[bentlebee]

BTW Florida law has changed so tenants are protected till the end of their lease if a HO is foreclosing on the property. Unless the property is already in foreclosure, so check it out.

I did numerous checks and often you see a patern of liens and in many cases the same owner had been in foreclosure like 10 years ago...I would run fast when I see a track record of that...

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

We have rentals and there is no way I would give a tenant my SSN.

It is none of the tenants business what is on my credit report.

You want to rent from me, I make the rules.

There are tons of ways to check to see if the home is in foreclosure.

I am banging my head on the desk thinking that someone actually believes they have the right to check my credit as a landlord.