I rcvd a letter saying the house I rent was sold to foreclosure – I must vacate – my landlord denies?
May 5th, 2011 | 
Author: I received a letter a saying the house I rent may be sold to forclosure on 09/01/09. I called the attorney listed in the letter on 09/08 and was told the property was sold.
I have a new letter stating the property was sold and I would need to vacate the property. Since I am renting, I have 90 days to vacate if I can provide copy of my lease.
I contacted my landlord, he denies everything. Says he know nothing about the letter, nothing about foreclosure. I also received a visit from another individual who says they are on the original loan and came by the see who is occupying the property. I know he was unsure about some things because he was fishing for information.
Do I believe the landlord or the attorney, how do I double check to see what is what?
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
It seems like your landlord should have been a little more concerned if he had been paying his bills on time. If I got a notice of foreclosure on my house, I would be trying to resolve the issue. It also seems like you would know if the house was sold, as in, there would have been an auction with people at the house, I would think. It really does sound fishy. Maybe you can look through foreclosure notices. There should be a foreclosure notice in the paper around the date you received it in the mail. And, there should be public records at the courthouse that state whom the owner is.
I’d call the county clerk’s office with the legal description of the property and the owner’s name and ask them if they will check to see if the property was conveyed at a foreclosure sale.
Edit; If you have recieved notice from a new owner, in pretty much most counties, the deed will have to have been filed for record in order for them to file a notice to quit with you.
In MOST counties in the US, the clerk will accept questions; outside some places like NYC or LA anyway. I’ve seen clerks pretty much run current owner searches for people.
Check your county courthouse foreclosure records. You may be able to call the court. Ask your landlord to provide proof that he’s been making recent payments on the house. The house probably is in foreclosure.
Don’t pay any more rent to your landlord, or “new” landlord until you have copies of court documents. Don’t pay rent to your “new” landlord unless they insist. If the property has been foreclosed on and you pay your old landlord, you are throwing away your money. As he no longer owns the property he has no right to collect rent or even evict you. He no longer has any interest in the property.
They guy who came to visit you probably represents the loan company who foreclosed on the property. They do an inspection to determine if anyone is living there and what condition the property is in. Since there are so many foreclosures, you may be able to talk them into letting you rent month – to – month until they sell the property. Or tell them you don’t have money to move and ask them if you can stay rent free for a month or two while you save up money to move.
It will take awhile for the deeds to be legally signed and recorded at the county recorder’s office. You should be able to contact the recorder’s office directly to obtain a copy of any new recorded deed. The county recorder’s office will not normally accept telephone calls. The recorder’s office might have a presence on the internet.
This new deed would reflect if the property has changed owners in the past few weeks or what ever time frame that you received the letter from the attorney.
You might be able to obtain a copy of the newly recorded deed from this attorney. Who does this attorney represent?
I hope this has been of some benefit to you,good luck.
“FIGHT ON”
the only way to be absolutely sure is to check the deed at the county office, but i’d trust the atty over the landlord, especially if the landlord is not the (previous?) owner.