I have been renting this propert for the last 2 years.The plan was to purchase at the end of the lease(Sept 08). In August the landlord changed the plan to one of appling for a Short Sale. He said that it would be in my benefit (lower price)and that the process would take about 6 months. I told him that I was not interested in renting for an indefinite period and that I needed a lease if we were doing this and also to see some documents from the bank concerning the procedure. When the lease expired and came time for rent, I reminded him of the lease and docs. From the bank, also telling him that I will not pay rent until I got something in writing (lease) and saw proof of the bank docs.I found it was very strange when he did neither. On Sept 26 I was served with Foreclosure papers/ Jane Doe, as he had not paid the mortgage since April. He has refused to speak with my Realtor about giving the bank authorization to discuss facts about THE Short Sale.
I have been looking for a new home. So far I have received 4 notices from the landlord.
(1).. Sept 17... 3 day notice which was wrong because it demanded July" rent. (2).. Oct 1... 3 day notice... (3) Oct. 8.. 3 day notice (4) Oct 8 but dated the Oct 6.. 15 day Notice of Termination of month to month Tenancy. Are these notices Legal? Do I have to pay the rent to this landlord that has 4 other properties in foreclosure, including his primary home.

If you are in California, no and in fact you can sue for all of your rent back from the time he went into foreclosure.


But anywhere else in the US, yes if you don't pay rent, they will evict you.

I'm very confused. If the plan was that you were going to purchase in September, why didn't you just buy the place? He could have set the price at an amount that would cover his mortgage, you buy it, everyone's happy.

Hi Froggy7,
I am in South Florida... The landlord changed the plan of purchase to one of a ShortSale. The conditions of his plan is that I should pay an additional 6 months of rent ($2,200.@ mnth), at which time the would submit the short sale, and when I suppose I continue paying rent waiting for the bank to respond. When that happens we will owe him $15,000.00 as a commission. He has refused to supply me with a lease or documents from the bank. I do not even know is this house qualifies for a short sale, it being one of 5 that he owns,all in foreclosure,( his primary home & 4 rentals). The amount he owes on this property exceeds the appraisal by a almost $150,000.

Are the 3 day/ 15day notices legal? What ca I do?

First no, actually someone is lying to you, or you are confused,

A short sale is merely where the bank agrees to accept less for the house than the loan. The owner of the home does not control it, they can not even OK it, and can not make any terms for it.
Only the bank will set the terms for a short sale. And they are the only ones that can accept or reject that offer.

Next no, on a short sale almost all banks set a very small amount ( about 5 percent or less ) as the commission for selling the home, and the owner can not get this amount it has to be a outside real estate broker.

Are they legal notices, yes if you don't live in California, you either move or wait to go to housing court to be evicted.
Housing court may allow you 30 days it is hard to say

Thanks for responding, as I said before ,the changes from purchase to short sale was the landlord's idea not the Bank. This is why I am in disagreement with him! Why should pay rent for 6 months and then he submit the short sale application. Why cann't he apply for it NOW!
Don't you think that this is all very underhanded and shaddy?

It is underhanded and shady. That's why you need to make sure that you don't believe anything he has ever told you.

Did you have a written option contract, or just the lease?

Do you have financing in place now? If you do, and you want to see about purchasing this property I would get in contact with someone at the mortgage company/bank. You may have to be very persistent to get them to talk to you.

As far as paying rent, etc... it's TOTALLY unfair, but legally if you don't pay rent you can be evicted.

Hi, the bank will not discuss purchasing with me because they say legally he is still the owner of the prop. And the landlord will not submit the short sale until Jan or Feb 2009. There should be somewhere I could report this underhanded man too... Believe me the amount of times I called CountryWide and they keep telling me that they need permission for the owner before the discuss and thing about the loan etc. And he refuses to call them.

Well, then I guess at this point your angle is the broken option contract. Do you have a written option contract? If you do, and you are ready to go with the purchase, then you get a real estate attorney and sue this man to get the sale to go forward.

Unfortunately, my lease expired in Sept and he has refused to give me a written lease, and expects me to continue putting money in his pocket without any assurance of a shortsale or anything. I am completely out of status and quickly painting myself into a corner.

First, did you have a contract that stated that at the end of the lease, you would purchase the home? If you did, then what were the exact terms of that contract? The landlord can't just change the contract.

As Chuck said, a short sale is an agreement the owner makes with the lender, where the lender waives a portion of the mortgage balance to allow the sale. My suspicion here is that the amount you agreed to pay would not cover what the landlord owes and that's why he is trying to setup the short sale.

But, since you were under a lease, even though it's a month to month, you are obligated to make the payments and can be evicted if you don't.

What I return to is the terms of your original agreement and whether you have them in writing. You might be able to get the county prosecutor to look into fraud charges which may force the landlord to deal with this or go to jail.

OK, again...
1. Did you have a written option contract?

2. Were / are you ready to purchase the property? If he called today and said, "ok, you can buy it - let's close." Are you ready to go?

If you can prove that you upheld your end of the contract (were ready to purchase) and HE violated the contract (informing you of his short sale master-plan, etc) you can sue him for performance on the contract. He can be ordered by a judge to sell the property to you under the terms of your original contract. If you file something quickly I think you'd have a decent shot at this.


Do you know numbers on the loan / property value / etc? What does he owe? What was your purchase price to be? What's the home's current value.