Where to begin :confused:

A roommate and I co-signed a lease in mid Sept for a condo in a high-rise. The "owner" I signed the lease with and gave first, last months rent and security deposit (all in all equalling 3 months rent) - well it turns out he already sold the place 2 weeks before I signed the lease.

Then he went totally missing.

3 weeks after I move in (end of Oct now) I receive a deed and mortgage statements in the mail. I check the property records online and realize "John Doe" we gave the money to and signed the lease with sold his condo 2 weeks prior.

I call my realtor, she is very concerned and confused. She calls our landlords realtor who said "she just talked to john doe last week" and emails us "OMG i have no idea what you're talking about!" (professional response, "OMG"?) She never gets back to us. We figure we might as well stay put, seeing as we just went through the hassle of moving and as long as theoretically our land lord doesn't own the place, we can hopefully live there long enough to justify the security and last mo rent we paid the scammer.

-Meanwhile- It comes to our attention many condos in our building have been sold falsely in mortgage fraud schemes. They are worth about $500-600 k, but were over appraised and sold around mid $800 k. Our apartment totally fits the profile. (It is a unit without upgrades in a 35 floor building. In the past year other units with same floorplan sold for around $500-600, ours and a few others (also fraud) sold for exactly $820,000 or $830,000.

Last week I get a note on the door from the "new owner" - lets call him "Jim Smith." He says he hasn't been able to get ahold of the old owner, and to call him. The letter is addressed to me so apparently he knows my name. I look up the cell number he left on Google and I find it is the number to a guy named "Bob Jones," a mortgage broker (listed on a website directory for mortgage brokers).

A few days later "Jim Smith" calls me. He is an old guy that barely speaks english. I act confused and say I didn't know the property was sold, I have been sending rent to "John Doe." (I haven't) He pretends like he doesn't know "John Doe's" name and asks me for his cell number. How could he not know the original owners name but know my name? I give him John Does cell number.

Today "Bob Jones" himself (the mortgage broker listed as the cell numbers owner) calls me, saying he is "Jim Smith"'s nephew. I am at work and didn't want to get into it so I say I am my sister and take a message.

LONG STORY - hopefully it is clear. Now my questions!!

1. Technically I am a squatter, right? I signed a lease with a non-owner. I don't owe anyone rent, right, since I don't have a valid lease?

2. I am just about to travel for the holidays and won't be back until Jan. 2. Should I call this guy back and ask him about a move out some time in Jan? Should I ignore him until I leave?

3. What is the responsibility of my real estate agent and the agent who represented the fake landlord? They are both licensed. Don't they have a responsibility to make sure a deal is happening with an actual owner?? Should we at least push to have them pay for our moving costs? What about the lost deposits/rent? I am not super concerned with this since technically as of end of December its been 3 months so I figure we are "even" but I would like them to pay for our moving cost.

4. Is it worth contacting a lawyer or will that be very expensive? (I am only 23 and have not a lot of flow)

Thanks - any insight HUGELY appreciated.

PS - I live in Florida if state laws come into play at all.

Thanks :cool:

Ok, First, the two realtors are probably off the hook since john doe was the owner at some point. They probably were not aware he planned this scam. . However, as soon as you made his realtor aware, she should have helped you report it to the police. And that's what you should have done as soon as you got the paper's indicating the condo had been sold. I'm unclear though why those papers were sent to you.

I think you should report this fraud to the police. Then wait for the current owners to tell you to vacate. Once you get notice, then you can decide how to proceed.

Hello State:

One thing I WOULDN'T do, is travel and leave my things unattended. You might find them on the street when you get back.

excon

Follow up question -

We changed the locks. Can the new owner force entry?

(Also - thank you for the responses thus far.)

Hello again, State:

You call yourself a squatter. The law calls you a trespasser. If you don't guard your stuff, it's going to disappear.

excon

If he has leased you the property before the sell, the new owner is obligated, since he leased you the porperty after he sold it, the new landlord can evict you just like you are a homeless man who went in without permission.

You should and need to press charges against the orgainal owner and sue him for your money back.

Also you need to meet with the new owner and get a new lease, if you can't you need to move before you leave for any holiday

I'm not so sure you are a trespasser. The key here is you acted in good faith. So you are the victim of a fraud. As a viction you may have some rights here. Though I could be wrong.

So you NEED to report it to the police. This may help forestall them putting you out precipitously.

Yes, and it may well turn out that the seller and the new buyer is together in this fruad, and the mortgage company will end up being the loser,
If this is the case, they may want you to keep renting, but may try and get double rent from you for those first months, new owner claiming you now owe him the same amounts.