What if a tenant is renting a house that is currently in foreclosure?

The first thing a tenant should do is to call the landlord and discuss the issue.  Don’t be confrontational, just ask what the landlord intends to do.  The landlord may be doing a loan modification or may tell you straight out that they are going to let the property be foreclosed.  Then you need to decide whether you want to stay or if you want to vacate.  If you want to vacate, ask the landlord if you can vacate early; the landlord may say yes.  If the landlord won’t agree to let you vacate early, then read your lease to see if it is a breach for the landlord to let the rental property go into foreclosure.  If there is such a provision, then follow the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (link in the right margin of this blog), send the landlord the proper notice and then vacate if the landlord does not cure the default.  If you (tenant) want to stay, federal legislation was passed in May 2009 that allows some tenants to finish out the term of their lease even after the foreclosure; for mo/mo tenants, they must be given at least 90 days advance notice of termination, but in both cases, that is only if the federal law applies to the tenant’s specific facts.  Consequently, you (tenant) should either talk to your own attorney or Google “U.S. Senate Bill 896 – Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009," and read it to see if you fall under that Act.

Comments

[Lewis]

I love it whenever people get together and share ideas.
Great site, keep it up!

[Loan Modification Help]

Thank you Carl for sharing your knowledge on what a tenant should do if renting a house that is currently in foreclosure.

I particularly love what you said here:..."read your lease to see if it is a breach for the landlord to let the rental property go into foreclosure". It makes a great sense to me.

Thanks again for sharing.