Rental home foreclosures

Your lease is a legal agreement between you and the landlord. As long as the landlord still has legal title to the property, whatever they do with your rent check is an entirely different matter than your responsibility.

As far as protecting the renters, Florida law doesn't really do that in this case. The lender doesn't want to be a landlord, and odds are fairly good you'll be asked to leave once they take title. If you talk with them, they might be willing to cover your security deposit on your next home and a little beyond that if you guarantee you'll leave the property in good shape.

These articles may be useful:

FCS3306/FY1108: Florida Renter's Guide to Foreclosure

Clerk of the Circuit Court Homepage

The Klein Law Group - A Florida Tenant's Guide to Foreclosure

Defending Foreclosures in Florida

When we were notified that a home we were previously renting was in pre-foreclosure, we were able to negotiate considerably lower rent with our landlord. That home sold short a few months later, bypassing foreclosure. I would definitely inquire about having my deposit applied to the rent, as you are unlikely to have it refunded to you.

Good luck!

Thank you for this information. At this time, we are unable to reach the landlord. At the time that we rented the home, the owner of the house had his agent take care of the lease, etc. Since being served with the owners foreclosure papers, none of us have been able to reach the owner to discuss rent, etc. The agent has pulled the listing and we have not been able to get anyone from the law firm that is representing the bank to call us back. We are not sure what to do next. We really hate to pay the owner since we can't reach him. Hopefully the articles that you posted will explain more. Thanks!

Thank you for this information. At this time, we are unable to reach the landlord. At the time that we rented the home, the owner of the house had his agent take care of the lease, etc. Since being served with the owners foreclosure papers, none of us have been able to reach the owner to discuss rent, etc. The agent has pulled the listing and we have not been able to get anyone from the law firm that is representing the bank to call us back. We are not sure what to do next. We really hate to pay the owner since we can't reach him. Hopefully the articles that you posted will explain more. Thanks!

Here is what you do since your landlord obviously does not give a hoot about you: Give all your rent money to the clerk of court to hold until the legal issues are resolved. You are obviously confused as to who should be paid, right? A payment made to the clerk is in good faith, especially since your landlord has gone underground. You have to pay though. Just make the weasel surface when that rent does not come in the mail, tell them it is at the courthouse and let them figure out how to get it. They might even already have judgements against them, and if this is the case you can notify the plaintiff's attorney who obtained the judgement that the money is on deposit with the clerk. Hehehe. I have little sympathy for these people because the same thing happened to me

Do you have a lease, redhotmama? If so, and you are paying the "going rate" in rent, then my understanding is that the 90-day notice applies to you. If you are month-to-month, or your rent is considerably below market rates, then maybe not.

And you're a better person than I am, skunky. If I were unable to contact the landlord, I'd withhold payment until he/she contacted me. Then we could talk.

Thank you for this information. At this time, we are unable to reach the landlord. At the time that we rented the home, the owner of the house had his agent take care of the lease, etc. Since being served with the owners foreclosure papers, none of us have been able to reach the owner to discuss rent, etc. The agent has pulled the listing and we have not been able to get anyone from the law firm that is representing the bank to call us back. We are not sure what to do next. We really hate to pay the owner since we can't reach him. Hopefully the articles that you posted will explain more. Thanks!

Stop paying your rent and move as soon as possible. Your deposit is gone, so consider that a rental payment. Also check the county clerk records on the property to get a feel for where the case is. It's hard to estimate how much time you have - what type of papers were you served? Notice to vacate or something else?

Our lease started in November and we had the help of the owner's RE agent throughout the entire process. We had contact with both the agent and the owner of the home. After living here for one month and paying rent for NOV/DEC (plus we paid a deposit), we were served with the owner's foreclosure papers. We can see, in the papers, that as soon as we paid our deposit (a month before we moved in) he stopped making his mortgage payment. We immediatlely called the RE agent, who had no idea what was going on and pulled the listing. A week before we were served with the papers notifying us of the foreclosure (NO EVICTION PAPERS), we tried reaching the owner of the home and the agent due to issues with our well water tank/plumbing problems. We were unsuccessful in reaching the owner and thought that something must be wrong. Sure enough, a week later (on my birthday) at 8:00PM, we were served with the owner's foreclosure papers. We are supposed to pay our rent on the 10th of January and we ususally deposit the $ into the owner's account. We have tried numerous times to contact the owner (and so has the agent) and neither of us can reach him (he is in TX). I have called the Law Office noted on the papers NUMEROUS times and no one will return my phone call. I spoke the 2 different people at the Walton County Clerks Office and they both were NO help and very impatient with me, telling me that there is NOTHING that I can do but wait or call a lawyer. WHAT A MESS! We would love to wait it out to see what happens as we LOVE our house and JUST finished unpacking. According to the papers that we were served, this definitely all happened after we signed the lease. We did our research before signing the lease and now we are stuck with the owner's mess. Seems our hands are tied until we can find another place to live...and did I mention that I have a one-year old? Thanks for your help and suggestions. At this time, I think that we will explore the option to pay the Clerk's Office...anyone know of a home for rent along 30A?

A foreclosure can take anywhere from a few months to years, depending on the bank. The house could become shadow inventory, a situation where the owner is not making mortgage payments, and the bank lets the property sit for a while before seeking final judgment to avoid paying maintenance, HOA, and property taxes. On the flip side, if the bank decides to expedite the process, 3-4 months and it'll be at auction. (What bank is foreclosing?) The bank would then place it with a real estate agent, who would contact you. Any point after the auction (once the bank owns the property) you could be served with an eviction notice.

Odds are whomever ultimately purchases the house will want to live in it, and you will have to move, so I would start planning for that. Playing the role of victim will likely result in immense personal hardship, I would suggest taking control of your situation by finding a new place to live and moving as soon as you are able.

As far as paying rent goes, talk to a lawyer. You might be able to live in the house rent free until you get evicted. The owner would have the right to evict you for non payment, but the courts provide you with protections which allow you to mitigate.. that might be an interesting way to get the owner to communicate with you. A lawyer would be a good first step, they're not going to charge much (if anything) for basic advice on your situation.

Paying rent to the clerk, I've never heard of such a thing. The county clerk is the clerk of courts, what business they would have collecting rent on a property I have no idea (I don't think they would have the right without owners consent), but at least you could call them or email them for answers and they will respond.

For rentals, try posting your needs in the SoWal long-term rental forum. There are property management companies down here galor, I'm sure there's plenty of available property too.

http://www.sowal.com/bb/long-term-rentals/

Good luck!

its as easy as stop paying rent and stay in the home till they evict you. you might get 6-12 months free rent. if the house sells at auction or a bank lists its work out a deal to either pay a rent to the bank( a occupied house will sell faster and for more) or if another owner buys try to work a deal out for a few months till you find a place.

However, if you go the squatting route, you run the risk of someone in the process reporting the non-payment of rent to the credit bureaus, which could mess things up down the road.

its as easy as stop paying rent and stay in the home till they evict you. you might get 6-12 months free rent. if the house sells at auction or a bank lists its work out a deal to either pay a rent to the bank( a occupied house will sell faster and for more) or if another owner buys try to work a deal out for a few months till you find a place.

I've got to go with ray on this one. I'd bet there are many folks living rent-free in foreclosure limbo properties throughout sowal. And there's a very good likelihood that any new rental you find might succumb to the same fate. Sit tight and save your money for a future move. You'll be notified by the bank or Realtor when you actually have to move. If the owner's interested in getting his money, he'll contact you.

We have never heard of paying the Clerks Office either until this all happened. We were told be several people to pay either them or deposit our rent money into an Escrow Account...I think moreso for the paper trail and proof that we indeed have all intentions in paying our rent. We have rented in the area for years now and the reason we moved into this house in the first place is because the landlord in our previous house would not sign a lease longer than month-to-month and with having a new baby we wanted more stability in our lease. I also had heard from other people that the owner of our other rental was possibly going into foreclosure and we didn't want the rug to be pulled out from under us, so we took control of the situation and looked for another rental. And now this is where we are. The entire situation is so crazy. The owner of this house actually raised the listing price of the home as soon as the airport news broke. The RE agent at the time was communicating with the owner and had suggested to the owner that before renting out the house LT (he had it as a STR for a while) that he opt to do a short sale, but he was not interested at all in that and insisted that he could afford to pay the difference in the mortgage. Now he is MIA and we have already had to pay out of our own pockets for repairs to several things in the home. I think that our only option will be to contact a lawyer to see what advice they can give us and just HOPE that the cost for that isn't too much. We plan to save our $ and find a new place to live. It is just such a shame b/c it always cost more than you think when you have to pack up and move and we just did that...so we are running out of our "nest egg"---ERRRR! Please keep any advice coming...this is an interesting topic and unfortunately there are so many people that need advice for this! Thanks so much!!

We have never heard of paying the Clerks Office either until this all happened. We were told be several people to pay either them or deposit our rent money into an Escrow Account...I think moreso for the paper trail and proof that we indeed have all intentions in paying our rent. We have rented in the area for years now and the reason we moved into this house in the first place is because the landlord in our previous house would not sign a lease longer than month-to-month and with having a new baby we wanted more stability in our lease. I also had heard from other people that the owner of our other rental was possibly going into foreclosure and we didn't want the rug to be pulled out from under us, so we took control of the situation and looked for another rental. And now this is where we are. The entire situation is so crazy. The owner of this house actually raised the listing price of the home as soon as the airport news broke. The RE agent at the time was communicating with the owner and had suggested to the owner that before renting out the house LT (he had it as a STR for a while) that he opt to do a short sale, but he was not interested at all in that and insisted that he could afford to pay the difference in the mortgage. Now he is MIA and we have already had to pay out of our own pockets for repairs to several things in the home. I think that our only option will be to contact a lawyer to see what advice they can give us and just HOPE that the cost for that isn't too much. We plan to save our $ and find a new place to live. It is just such a shame b/c it always cost more than you think when you have to pack up and move and we just did that...so we are running out of our "nest egg"---ERRRR! Please keep any advice coming...this is an interesting topic and unfortunately there are so many people that need advice for this! Thanks so much!!

You're the unwitting victim in all of this craziness. So sorry you're having to go through it. Hope y'all work it out without too much hardship.

Does anyone have more information regarding what to do when you find out the house that you are renting just went into foreclosure? What are the laws protecting renters? Do you continue to pay rent or put the money in an interest bearing account? Thank you!

I would call the bank directly (if it is a bank and not some mortgage company), offer to pay rent to them, and you may be able to stay and have a better landlord for awhile. Ask for a purchase price, either have you or an investor offer to buy the note at a deep discount, continue the forsclosure process and own it or have your investor friend be the new landlord and they get a good return as well.

We have tried calling everyone related to this situation...and NO ONE will return our phone calls. Such a crazy mess!

You wouldn't pay the Clerk's office. They have no way of accounting for your rent. Also remember that Clerk of Court personnel do not have legal training and cannot by law give legal advice of any sort.

Unfortunately, as far as finding out what your rights are, you really should seek the advice of an attorney. Best bet would be one who specializes in real estate law.

btw, you are not alone.

Yes, we decided against paying the Clerk's office. But we were told by so many that we should pay them. We will have to wait this out. We do not have another place to move right now and it will be really tough coming up with more deposits, etc when we just paid so much to live in our current house.