I am renting a home that is being foreclosed I can not get any information from the landlord or the bank in regards to WHO owns the home now the bank or him? Do I still need to pay rent? I feel that I'm unstable because the landlord has NOT paid for 4 months now, am I just giving him FREE money?

HELP!

Until you are informed that the foreclosure has been completed you are required to abide by the terms of your lease. Which means you make your regular rental payments. What the landlord does with that money is not any of your business.

Once the foreclosure is final, you will be informed that you will need to vacate or send your rental payments somewhere else.

Have you thought about making an offer on the house? If the landlord is going to lose it in foreclosure he may allow you to assume the mortgage (assuming the lender agrees) for a token payment.

You have good reason to be concerned. But first... if you want to know who owns the place, call the county, they can tell you who the legal owner is and if foreclosure proceedings have been started.

After the foreclosure, eviction proceedings against you can start... oh, and did anyone mention you'll likely be kissing your deposit good bye? Could you sue your landlord? Sure. But, even if you won, will you collect any money? Remember, the guy just lost his house... probably not.

You are not alone, this is happening constantly. Consider paying your rent into escrow until you know what is going on.

If you have a good relationship with the landlord, your best bet might be to agree to terminate the lease, then you can find another place to live, and just move on with your life.

Most homeowners take the ostrich approach and stick their head in the sand, even though the owner SHOULD reasonably know what's going on, they are choosing not to pay any attention - it's painful. But, they might be willing to be honest and fair with you. If they're losing the house anyway, why take you down with them?

If they are just too embarrassed to be frank with you, then pay your rent into escrow. That way, when a REALTOR comes to your door and asks you to move quickly, you can sue for damages and there will be money in an escrow fund that could be released to you if the judge finds in your favor.

By the way, what happens after the foreclosure is that you are usually notified, often by the new listing agent who will be selling the house for the bank... and many times they'll offer you cash for keys. It's not a lot ($500-1000), but it's something. And, you can try to negotiate more. If you refuse to move, the bank must start eviction proceedings which can takes months (by the way, it can also affect you negatively since there will be a filing on your record). It's best for the bank and for you to negotiate a win-win kind of deal.

Hope this is helpful.

Warmest Regards,
Vicky Chrisner
www.VickyChrisner.com