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My husband and I just rented a house here in Atl. I just found out the person whom I signed the renters contract with was not the actual owner of this property.. I paid 950 for the first month rent but we fell into a problem with employment so no other monies were paid.. He threatened to evict us but never did. On May 15th we received a certified letter from the county court house stating this house was foreclosed and was purchased by the original bank. When I called the court house they told me this house was in foreclosure when we moved into this home in Feb 2008. What can I do? Should I just let this thief keep the 950 I paid to move into this foreclosed property? Or should I request it back, I still have to move but it is just the principal. Be straight forward with me.

The way I read this, you've been living in this house for free since March of 2008. You haven't paid any rent to anyone other than $950 for February and no one has made any demands for rent or tried to sue you. The new owner (the bank) hasn't filed a lawsuit for eviction yet or requested that you make any rental payments. And you're wondering how you can get back the money you paid for February rent?

I think you should consider yourself extremely lucky that you've been living there for free for this long.

I agree with Lisa. You should be happy you got 3 months free rent. Also you don't know if this person was an authorized agent or not. He may have been and had the power to sign the agreement for the owner. If he is a thief, do you really think you will be able to get your money back?

Also, if the house was in foreclosure, by not paying you may have contributed to the foreclosure being finalized. Its not out of the question for the original owner to go after you for the rent you didn't pay. Frankly, if I were you, I would move ASAP and I would put aside the 3 months rent for a year or so, just in case someone does come after you.

Yeessshh betrayed08

Do you not see the fraud and dishonesty of your actions??

Or are you going to send the missed payments to the poor guy who lost his house because YOU DIDN'T make the payment you agreed to and now the bank owns the house?

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacific nw

Yeessshh betrayed08

Do you not see the fraud and dishonesty of your actions???????

Or are you going to send the missed payments to the poor guy who lost his house because YOU DIDN'T make the payment you agreed to and now the bank owns the house?

Umm lighten up a little here. The house was in foreclosure before the OP moved in. So there is no guarantee had she made her payments it would have staved off the foreclosure. Plus, its possible the rental agent was not acting on the behalf of the owner.

Apparently there are a lot of interesting frauds going on now with so many foreclosures out there. One is where people move into a vacant foreclosed house, tell the bank they are tenants and say that they will move out for a modest sum (1000-1500). Another one is where someone finds a vacant foreclosed house, and rents it out to a tenant while claiming to be the owner. And, of course, there's the standard problem of squatters. Life is getting interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Umm lighten up a little here. The house was in foreclosure before the OP moved in. So there is no guarantee had she made her payments it would have staved off the foreclosure. Plus, its possible the rental agent was not acting on the behalf of the owner.

Right. But, they signed an agreement that they would make rent payments. They didn't make the payments. This quite probably put a further burden on the poor guy who was in foreclosure, who was entitled to the payments. Now, she wants her money back after not making agreed upon payments but getting the benefit of living there rent free. It's one of the most selfish actions a renter can take.

If someone was acting without the knowledge of the owner (which we don't know to be the case, it may have been a hired propertry manager) and collecting initial rent, it's the owner's responsibility to prosecute the one claiming to be the owner. Or for the renter to track down the rightful owner and set things straight. She didn't claim any of that happened.

At any rate, the renter would have a cancelled check to prove who she wrote the check out to, and where it was cashed. Then she can at least show good faith of trying to pay the owner. She has not shown good faith though in making further payments.

In my part of the woods, it can take 3 months to get someone booted out of a house they have no right to be in and costs about $2,000 in legal fees plus lost rent. It is not a "light" matter.

She's lucky if she doesn't get sued. If she can't find who the rightful owner was at the time she was scamming him, and pay him what she still rightfully owes him, she should give a comparable amount of the missed rent to a homeless shelter or the Salvation Army.
IMO (In My Opinion)

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacific nw

Right. But, they signed an agreement that they would make rent payments. They didn't make the payments.

She's lucky if she doesn't get sued. If she can't find who the rightful owner was at the time she was scamming him, and pay him what she still rightfully owes him, she should give a comparable amount of the missed rent to a homeless shelter or the Salvation Army.
IMO (In My Opinion)

I don't disagree. That's why I said lighten up a little. I reread the OP and maybe I'm wrong. I do find it interesting that she calls the agent who took the 1st month a thief and talks about the principal of the thing, yet doesn't seem to understand that she was wrong in not paying the rent she contracted to.