[jmolinav]

Hi!

I am renting a house that has a foreclosure letter. The owner had 3 months without paying her mortgage (April, May, June) and we started renting the house in July. We paid the first month, last month and security deposit, and also paid rent for August. Now, we realize the house could be going to foreclosure. Are we still forced to pay the rent every month? Should we be looking for another house?

Please help out, I am literally freaking out!

Thanks,

Jonathan Molina

[rockinmommy]

Unless you are in California (the only state with protection for tenants written into law) you are still bound by the terms of your lease. Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds... you are still legally responsible to pay the rent to the owner. Which, by the way, is still the person you rented from. They are still officially "the owner" until the property sells at the foreclosure auction.

That said... legally... keep paying your rent.

Some things that have been suggested, instead...
-pay your rent into an escrow account instead of giving it to the owner. That way if the owner were to come after you (sue you) for the rent you'd have it.
-forget the lease, stop paying rent, and find a new place to live ASAP. The theory behind this is that the landlord has so many problems right now - coming after you for the rent is the least of his/her worries. But just know that they COULD enforce the lease.

I'm sorry you're in this position. It's SO unfortunate that no laws have been created to protect people in your situation.

[jmolinav]

Thank you for your answer. This has been very helpful. I am in Florida, so I guess I will have to keep paying to the escrow account.

If I decide to find a new place to live and give a 30 day notice to the owner, but keep paying the rent until then, am I breaking the contract? Do I have the right to collect all my deposit?

Thanks!
Jonathan

[Fr_Chuck]

If you pay into a escrow account most likely the landlord will still do eviction on you, and expect the payment in court. I would discuss this with an attorney, since having a court eviction on your rental record is not good either.

[ScottGem]

Yes you would be breaking the lease, but the odds are they won't come after you. You are entitled to your deposit back, but you may have to sue the landlord to get.

In your situation, the landlord was behind three months and you gave him three months rent. I would check to see if he used that money to pay part of his arrears. If he did, then he's trying to retain the property. However, if he didn't, then he's just trying to get as much as he can from the property before he loses it. In such a case, a court is more likely to sympathize with you.

Another possibility is to offer to buy it from him. He may be able to assign the mortgage yo you and you would only have to pay the arrears.