I am renting a home that has been started in the foreclosure process. My landlord did not inform me of this, instead I had a police officer serve me with papers thinking I was the owner. My lease ends in feb09, and the house is selling in a foreclosure sale oct 13, 08. My landlord is also not keeping up with any of the maitnence on the house and has been pocketing my rent checks. Can I break my lease before feb. and isn't this a breach in contract?? :

i am renting a home that has been started in the foreclosure process. my landlord did not inform me of this, instead i had a police officer serve me with papers thinking i was the owner. my lease ends in feb09, and the house is selling in a foreclosure sale oct 13, 08. my landlord is also not keeping up with any of the maitnence on the house and has been pocketing my rent checks. can I break my lease before feb. and isn't this a breach in contract??? :
Not a legal professional. Write a certified letter to the landlord, stating the information you know about the foreclosure. Ask him what he intends to do about the agreement between you.// You will need proof that you did everything possible to resolve the issue because if you just move you may be found in violation because it was prior to the foreclosure sale. The letter, sent certified with a time limit for a response from the landlord (ie. Answer by 3 weeks). Then you may act accordingly. If no answer, make your moving plans to cover yourself. If answer make your decisions as to if the accommodation or compensation for the inconvience is acceptable to you. You might request the last or last two months to be rent free because the landlord is breaking the lease with the foreclosure. But get everything in writing!

Good answer, probably overly cautious , as the owner in default is also required to perform on the lease.

Legally, you can't break the lease, you can't stop paying rent, and no, the landlord hasn't breached the contract. He can stop the foreclosure by paying up before the foreclosure sale. I have heard that, in some places, he can even take legal action against you if your refusal to pay rent causes him to foreclose earlier, since your actions will have caused him material damage. Sorry.. the law hasn't caught up to this new situation.

There are several threads in this forum delaing with the same issue. Unless you live in CA, the laws have not caught up to this new situation. What the landlord does with the rent you pay is none of your business. So there is no breach of contract here.

However, his failure to maintain the property may be a breach. It depends on what maintenance is needed. You can send him a certified letter stating that repairs are needed and if they are not started with x days, you will consider that a breach of the lease and you serve notice of your intent to move.

Another alterrnative is buying the house yourself. The lender may be willing to assign the property to you if the landlord agrees. You may have to pay the arrears, back load the mortgage or refinance. But since the landlord is going to lose the property anyway a sale will look better on his credit report.