Ask Me Help Desk - Foreclosure on house with renters

My husband and I are tenants living in queens ny, we were informed by our landlord that the house will be in foreclosure by the ending of August 2007. I would like to know 2 questions, do we continuing paying rent? To the landlord, and how soon do we have to move accordding to the law.

If you are living in the house, legally you are to pay rent to the owner.

Until it is foreclosed on, he is the owner. Now the owner may not care if you do or not. Once it is foreclosed they can ask you to move at once, so you need to find somewhere else to live.

Chuck is right on the money. But why not offer to buy it from the landlord? If he is that close to foreclosure, he may be willing to let it go to you for little more than the mortgage balance. Its definitely worth looking into.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracyw

my husband and i are tenants living in queens ny, we were informed by our landlord that the house will be in foreclosure by the ending of august 2007. i would like to know 2 questions, do we continuing paying rent? to the landlord, and how soon do we have to move accordding to the law.

Heck no I wouldn't pay rent. I fthe house is in foreclosure then this means the rent you've been paying to your landlord has not been going to the mortgage. He or she has obviously been spending thre money elsewhere. Typically you have 30 days to move, but foreclosure laws are different from state to state. Once the house getrs sold in auction a sheriff will show up at the door with a paper telling you when you have to be out. I'd be pissed. Your landlord has screwed you. Who the hell knows what they've been spending your hard earned money on that you've been rent for. It sure didn't go to the home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by britneyc

I fthe house is in foreclosure then this means the rent you've been paying to your landlord has not been going to the the mortgage. He or she has obviously been spending thre money elsewhere. Your landlord has screwed you. Who the hell knows what they've been spending your hard earned money on that you've been rent for. It sure didn't go to the home.

This is so off the wall I had to post additional comments. Landlording is a business. Just as you would have no say how your gas station owner spends the money you pay for gas, the tenant has no say or concern over how their rent is spent. There is absolutely NO issue of the landlord screwing the tenant here. The tenant got value for the "hard earned money", they got a roof over their heads. That's what they are paying for.

You have absolutely no clue as to why the home is in foreclosure. Maybe the rental LL has an adjustable rate mortgage that went up to higher than the rent? Maybe the house is being rented because the LL couldn't sell it an can't afford two houses. There are loits of reasons the house mught be in foreclosure NONE of which have any bearing on the tenant.

The tenant has NO right to stop paying rent. They have a lease an an obligation. As long as the LL owns the property they have a legal and ethical obligation to pay their rent to him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by britneyc

Heck no I wouldn't pay rent. I fthe house is in foreclosure then this means the rent you've been paying to your landlord has not been going to the the mortgage. He or she has obviously been spending thre money elsewhere. Typically you have 30 days to move, but foreclosure laws are different from state to state. Once the house getrs sold in auction a sheriff will show up at the door with a paper telling you when you have to be out. I'd be pissed. Your landlord has screwed you. Who the hell knows what they've been spending your hard earned money on that you've been rent for. It sure didn't go to the home.

This is probably the worst advice one could possibly receive on this matter and demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of lease and mortgage agreements. If you are a tenant under lease, you are obligated to perform, i.e. pay rent on a timely basis. There is no obligation on the part of the landlord to send the rent payments directly to a mortgage company. He or she may be obligated to make mortgage payments; however, the source of funds does not have to come from rent.

Suffice to say, ScottGem is correct, there are a myriad of things that may be going on with the property and it's title position, but virtually none of them absolve a tenant from paying his/her rent.