While the foreclosure crisis currently engulfing the housing market has made headlines as homeowners struggle to make payments, those who rent property have become victims of foreclosure evictions have not received the same attention.
According to the Washington Independent, increasing number of renters have become frustrated with the lack of protection they are receiving in the event their landlord is unable to make their payments and their house falls into foreclosure.
While federal protections have been put in place to guarantee renters the right to stay in their property for 90 days if their unit falls into foreclosure, many renters have not been properly notified of their rights.
“We’re definitely seeing a lot of problems with tenants that just get notes from Realtors that say the bank has foreclosed on your property, and it’s time to get out,” Shelley Wright a litigation director for New Haven Legal Assistance, told the Independent.
Judith Liben, a senior housing attorney with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, agreed, telling the Independent that despite whatever law may be in place there was always the chance that a disconnect could occur between a law’s intention and “what really happens on the street.”
Renters who fall victim to foreclosure evictions and are forced to suddenly leave their homes may be able to utilize payday loans as an emergency means to pay for some type of temporary housing as they attempt to figure out their long term housing situation.
