Renters Also Affected By Foreclosures
Filed under: Foreclosure Crisis
The foreclosure crisis of 2007 is infecting thousands of families although they have not defaulted in any mortgage repayment. They are the tenants of houses whose owners have defaulted. Little notice is being paid to this large group of people wrongly suffering for no fault of theirs.
No exact figures are available of how many tenants have been indirectly hit by foreclosures. On an average out of 8 buildings touched by the foreclosure plague one might have tenants who have been given marching orders. Probably this is an understatement because owner occupied buildings get tax benefits.
Many of the tenants complain that were totally ignorant about the impending foreclosures on the unit. Judith Liben who is a legal expert says that things have gone completely out of hand. Investors have crossed all limits in grabbing houses through the sub-prime route and the victims are now renters in this foreclosure crisis. This year it is feared that more than 1 million property will be foreclosed.
Nevada is one of the top rankers. Of all the mortgages that went into default towards the beginning of this year as much as 28% were not occupied by the owners. This is double the national average figure. Arizona and Florida too are well above the national median. In California 22% of the foreclosed properties were not being lived in by the owner. Mortgage Bankers Association and reliable online data collecting groups have released the figures.
The lenders initiating foreclosure evict the tenants because they want to sell the property. Nobody wants to buy a tenanted house. Many complain that they have never been late in paying the rent but yet they are in fear of the sudden notice that may arrive giving them 72 hours to clear out. It makes day-to-day routine of life extremely difficult to cope with. But very few are focusing on their plight and how the foreclosure matter is affecting them although technically they have nothing to do with it. They are a varied lot with some living in big apartments and others in houses.
The group is increasing in number. The best advice would be to find out legal avenues of protection. In the present context the demand for rented houses is rising and this puts pressure on their pocket also. The question is that legally can tenants be ousted with the property changing hands?
- Commonly Given Reasons For Foreclosure Crisis
- Politicians Playing Foreclosure Games
- Foreclosure Auctions Give Boost To Sales
- Foreclosures Dominate Conference Of Mayors
- More Than a Score Banks Being Sued In Cleveland for Foreclosures
- Foreclosure Tides Leaving Awash Indebted House Owners
January 15th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
This is happing to us now and we cant find out what to do, if we have rights or any helpful information on this. My husbands in the military and funds are short we have just found out thanks to letters being sent to us for the landload trying to get him to file chapt. 13 but what about us he is not avoiding us we dont even know if we can get our deposit back.