Dennis Norman
Over the past few months many people renting or leasing a home have had a rude awakening when they suddenly are told to vacate their home as a result of the property owner losing the home in foreclosure. Many times tenants are unaware of the owners plight prior to this so it leaves the tenant in a very difficult, and many times unfair, position.
There is some help and protection now though. Congress recently addressed this problem as part of the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009″ which went into effect as law on May 20, 2009, provides for the following:
- For the act to apply the tenant must be under a “Bona Fide Lease or Tenancy” which the act describes as:
- the tenant is not the mortgagor or the child, spouse or parent of the mortgagor
- the lease or tenancy was the result of an arms-length transaction, and
- the lease or tenancy requires the receipt of rent that is not substantially less than fair market rent for the property or the unit’s rent is reduced or subsidized due to a Federal, State or local subsidy
- tenancy or lease was in effect as of the date of the “notice” of foreclosure
- If the tenant meets the above requirements then the following apply:
- if tenant has a lease, tenant shall be permitted to occupy the premises until the end of the remaining term of the lease, unless the purchaser intends to occupy the property or unit as their primary residence in which case tenants occupancy cannot be terminated until 90 days after receiving notice to vacate
- if tenant does not have a lease or if the lease is terminable at will under State law, then tenant shall be given not less than 90 days after receipt of notice to vacate.
If you are a tenant facing this situation make sure you receive the rights and protection afforded you under this new law.
UPDATE – To view the public law containing the tenant protections referred to in this post please click here then go to “Title VII”.
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[...] days after the date the occupant is given notice that the foreclosure sale occurred. (The “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009” which went into effect May 20, 2009 actually provides additional protections to tenant [...]