Foreclosures Affect Owners And Tenants Alike

March 3rd, 2008

While home owners are grappling with the banks and laws to avoid foreclosures and save their homes, many tenants or renters are also getting heavily affected. Defaulting home owners have to face the heat of their renters on one side and the fury of foreclosure on the other.

No matter what the reasons for default, many renters are facing the wrath of the foreclosures though they are paying their rental charges and dues to the home owners in time. Tenants are being asked to vacate their homes for no fault of their own.

One distressed tenant, Vicki Raiter narrates her story and that it all began just a day after Christmas when her Comcast, (which includes TV, Telephone and Internet) was shut down. This service charge was included in the rent she paid to her landlord.

Subsequently, the electric company sent warnings that the power supply would be shut down and then garbage pick-ups stopped.

Since all these facilities were already included in the rent, she called the owner and demanded the restoration of the utilities and said that when she is paying all her dues, the owner should also adhere to his responsibilities towards the tenant.

To this the owner said that she pay the bills and that would be deducted from the January rent. Two weeks later Vicki received a notice stating the house she rented was under foreclosure. Vicki is on a fixed income and stays with her mother, who is suffering for a terminal cancer. She feels that her deposit and the additional payout will not be returned to her as the landlord is not even answering her calls.

To add to her woes, she was told by the Attorney General, Washington State that she has no rights as she is not dealing with the owner but with the bank.

Though the owner is trying to work something out, many legal experts opine that it is better to get a credit check of the landlord too while the tenants are also required to furnish one. One can also try negotiating with the bank on the foreclosure process, but there is no guarantee that this will help. The reason for this is that tenants will rarely have the funds required to help avert the foreclosure or buy the home they are living in. It will be difficult for them to negotiate with the bank.