Landlord in beginnings of foreclosure. Can I be evicted for non-payment?
June 23rd, 2011 | 
Author: I live in Florida. I have been living in the house for over 3 years and have paid on time each and every month. We have been excellent tenants even though my landlord hasn’t been so great when it came to honoring his end (i.e., taking care of maintenance such as plumbing and roof things that are in fact his responsibility) We received a summons that the landlord is in foreclosure back in April and he hasn’t been paying the mortgage since December 2009. We received what is called a Lis Pendens which according to an attorney my husband and I spoke with, is just the beginning of the foreclosure process. What my question is is that I don’t feel I should continue to pay rent since he isn’t paying the mortgage and we very well may have to look for another place to live which I do NOT want to do. I have tried to ask if he is taking care of the situation and only the NAME of the attorney who is representing him in this foreclosure case and they, already being hot tempered people, got very angry and said that what we were asking was “very personal” which I feel is ridiculous since I made it clear I wasn’t asking for details of the case or what he speaks about w/ his attorney, just wanted to know that someone was representing because that would show some interest in wanting to save the home from being foreclosed on. We asked if he would meet with us briefly just to discuss the situation, but he refused “saying that we should trust him and that he doesn’t have time for this or our stupid questions”. He does have several properties and I would imagine he must have someone he deals with concerning legal matters, but he won’t tell me who is handling this particular situation. He is also going through a divorce and claims that his wife wants the property even though it’s not worth anything and wants to sell it which doesn’t sound right to me in this market. She has to be aware of how the market currently is. He claims he’s going through an ugly divorce and that she wants “whatever she can get.” I also know that THEIR home is in both of their names and he also claims that she wants the house that they shared, but when I drove by their house there is a for sale sign. If she wants the home and both of their names are on the home can he sell it? Unless he is lying about that as well and they both have agreed to sell the house. I am so confused. I do see a red flag, but since he’s been hot tempered since the beginning I don’t know if it’s the fact that he is lying or just honestly feels he doesn’t need to give us this information. I did check what is called the docket sheet on my county’s clerk and comptroller’s website in the records search. We were served the summons on April 29, 2010 and to date there is no one representing him on this case or at least it hasn’t been entered into the system yet, I don’t know. When we last spoke with him to discuss whether or not to give him this month’s rent, June, he got upset and just said get out in 30 days. Can he do this? I just want to know my rights. I have a couple of 50 lb dogs and where I live it’s difficult to find a place where they will accept my dogs. I don’t know if 30 days is enough, but what bugs me is that I DON’T want to move I just want to find out the truth. If he is honestly going to try and save the home then I will wait it out. If not, I want to know. If I do have to leave I at least want some time to save money to move out. I don’t want him to just pocket my money while I and my family lose out. No way is he going to do that to us. Sorry to ramble so much, but I just though writing all the facts down might help someone give me some advice.
I NEVER asked for any personal information about his mortgage situation. All I asked for and this was the attorney’s advice was just to ask if someone was representing him in the case. If there was that would show that he did in fact have interest in saving the home otherwise he wouldn’t bother at all. That’s information you can easily get on the docket sheet and so far no one is so it’s apparent he’s letting the house go.
I do have an appointment to get some legal aid that will be more in depth. I didn’t think that I would be able to stay here rent free but I had heard that a reduced rent was possible, but he’s just not open to any discussion at all. Please everyone understand that I NEVER EVER asked for his personal information regarding his mortgage payment or his divorce I am an adult and DO understand that is none of my business. For the person who said it’s my fault that I have big dogs, are you serious? You must be joking lol. I think I know that it’s my problem.
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
His mortgage is none of your business and there is nothing that you have or could have done that would entitle you to live there for free. It’s his house until the day it’s actually foreclosed upon thus you owe him rent.
Added~
Who’s representing him, if anyone is none of your concern as a renter. All you need to know is who owns the house and who to pay rent to. Laws passed last year now protect renters from just being booted out by the banks. If you’re renting month-to-month, he can put you on notice to move out, as most landlords would do when their tenant comes to them to discuss them not paying next month’s rent.
Now that I’ve read your short novel, the answer will be much shorter and simpler. NOTHING you have stated gives you the right to cease paying rents and continuing to live there. If you withhold rents, you can be evicted. As well, you have no rights to any personal information about your landlord and his mortgage scenario(s). There are federal laws which will protect your rights to stay in the premises a certain time after the foreclosure takes place. When that time passes, the new owners can require you to leave. The federal laws will only protect you if you honor your rental agreement. If you breach that agreement in any way, you can be evicted earlier.
Florida tenants have limited rights when the landlord is going through a foreclosure. One thing you have to do is continue paying your rent. Your landlord still owns the property and can evict you for non-payment. You paying him rent has nothing to do with him paying his mortgage. As for what is going on in his personal life, that his business and he doesn’t need to tell you about his divorces or about how many properties he owns and what’s going on with those. The best thing to do is continue paying your rent on time. There is still time left before the auction so you have enough time to find another place. Eventually, if he loses the home or sells it, chances are you will be evicted anyway…either by the bank or the new owner.
Talk to an attorney, but you have to pay rent.
your rights are you don’t pay rent, you have to 30 days to move out.. it is not his fault or anyone but yours that you have big dogs..
Call a mortgage company and see if they can direct you to someone you might talk to regarding this. They personally may not be able or willing to help you with that as it is time consuming, but may direct you to some resources. And no, do NOT stop paying your rent. Just because he is going down doesn’t mean your credit and credibility should go too. It is a separate issue from his pre-foreclosure.
It doesn’t matter what the landlords problems are, if you are living there you need to be paying rent. Non-payment is one of the quickest ways to eviction.
Foreclosures can take awhile because the property owner could be working something out with the mortgage company. If there is an attorney involved and the owner as received a Notice of Default, then that puts the owner of notice that the property is going into foreclosure.
Right now it sounds like there may be either a tentative agreement between owner and his lender, or the lender is considering a short sale.
Although I know it doesn’t sound fair that you pay your rent, but you do not want the landlord coming after you. Once you find out the date of the sale of the property, you will have to be out before that date or you could be in trouble for trespassing.
I know this all sounds so unfair, and it is when your not the one who is causing the problem in the first place, it is much easier if you help yourself now rather than try to do something later.
If you want more information to see if the property you now live in is actually in foreclosure, go down to your local courthouse and ask to see the foreclosure list. Check to see if your property is on the list, and if it is write down the document # and take that back to the clerk. Have the clerk pull the file and your will find out all the information you want. It will have the attorney’s name,how much is owed, the owners name,possibly the date of sale(short sale or foreclosure),etc.
The above is free information and you will not have to pay for it, unless you want copies which cost four to seven cents a piece for each paper.
You have to pay your rent. Period. If you do not, the landlord can and will file eviction papers on you, which will make it much harder to find another place (with or without big dogs). An eviction will be far worse to whoever your next landlord is.
Besides, if you don’t pay your rent, how do you expect the landlord to make the mortgage payments on the home you live in? If you don’t pay him, the foreclosure process will only be that much faster, and you will lose out in the end because the landlord can sue you and get a garnishment against your wages for the unpaid rent, and any costs he incurs in evicting you.
If you are worried about having to find a new place on short notice, in most cases if a bank forecloses they have to take your lease as part of the bargain. In many cases, the bank will offer you $1,000 – $2,000 as an incentive to move out early, so they can sell the house more easily without a tenant in there.
So, you know the right thing to do. Be a good, responsible tenant. Pay your rent on time. Keep it clean so you get your security deposit back. If you are worried about staying there with uncertainty about the owner, start to look for a new place now. Maybe if you find another place now, the landlord will let you out of your lease early so that the bank might be willing to take a short sale deal on the house.