Protect yourself when you are renting a home
Right now, the market seems pretty good for buying a home or even renting a home. However, you gotta be careful because in this day and age, you may yourself in a “FUNKY FLY” position.
Here’s a few things that you need to keep in mind if you’re thinking about renting a home:
1) A RENTAL home is NOT your dream home. Sometimes, when people are looking for a rental home, they find a piece of property that is so great that they forget that it is still a RENTAL HOME! In other words, don’t abandon your common sense and take the first home you find just because it looks good. Make sure you conduct yourself as if you’re going to rent an apartment.
2) WHO owns the home?? There is a new craze of fraud going on around here and it is NOT sexy! Imagine paying rent to someone and finding out later that they didn’t own the home. Now, you are in a JAMMING situation because you may not have any legal recourse against the TRUE home owner and the FALSE home owner may be no where to be found. So how you can find out before you get your feelings hurt? One suggestion is to contact the county’s property appraiser’s office or county tax collector’s office. If you have the addresess for the location, they can tell you who owns it. This way, if you don’t like what you hear, you can run.
3) Consider a realty company. Anytime, you risk renting DIRECTLY from the homeowner, you risk the possibility of things getting funky. Alot of homeowners utilize 3d party realtors to act as an intermediary. You would be surprised at how easy life may be when dealing with a company that handles properties.
Now, you’ve rented your place. Everything is EVERYTHING and you are rolling. You have a wife or a husband and some kids. You pay your rent on time and you got great credit. All of sudden, you get a note on your door from the County Sheriff telling you that you 72 hours to get the hell out! SAY WHAT?????!!!!
I hope it is not this drastic but recognize that it can funky, quick fast and in a hurry.
However, here’s how it may play out. For whatever reason, your landlord is in financial disarray and all of sudden, the landlord is in foreclosure. It’s not sexy but here’s some things you need to consider:
1) Check your lease. The moment you get wind that the property you are staying in is now in foreclosure, check your lease to determine if this constitutes a breach of contract. Remember, your lease is the contract between you and the landlord that says that YOU have certain requirements and the landlord has certain requirements. If you’re not sure, contact an attorney in your area.
2) Speak to your landlord. Reach out to your landlord to determine what’s going on. Let’s be real. Depending on your landlord, they may not be TOTALLY truthful with you but you at least have an idea of what’s going on.
3) Do you have TENANT’s right? Every state is a little different so check the laws of your state to determine if you have any rights as they relate to what you can do in this situation.
4) File a notice as an interested party. If you can find out more information about the court proceedings, you may be able to file a notice as an interested 3d party. This way, you may receive some notification regarding the proceedings so this way you will know what’s going on.
5) To sue or not to sue? This question REALLY requires a heart to heart discussion with your significant other with some potential guidance from a lawyer. The simple fact is, you may have a cause of action to sue the landlord for their breach in order to get your deposit and first and last month’s rent. However, the landlord is in foreclosure so they may not have very much assets to get anyway.
6) Be prepared to move! I’m not encouraging people to take off as soon as you get the word that your rental property is in foreclosure. However, remember, the new owner (if there is one) may not necessarily owe you any obligations regarding continuing your lease so you should be prepared.
7) If you get the note on your door, get READY! If for some reason you find yourslef in a position where you get the 72 hour or 48 hour notice, you gotta move RIGHT THEN!! However, if you need more time, look at the notice to see who is the filing party because you may be able to contact them in order to buy more time if you were completely caught off guard.
These times are tough and they get tougher if you find yourself in a really tough situation due to the financial hardship of someone else. In other words, the last thing you want is a situation where you are forced to have to leave your home because someone hasn’t be paying their bills. However, be smart and be proactive the moment you realize that your rental property may be in jeopardy.
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