Home > Blogs > Fred Strickroot > Tampa Bay Area Home Specialists

Renters Beware: Protect Yourself Against Renting a Foreclosure

By Fred Strickroot

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Fred Strickroot - HomeNet - Tampa Bay Area - 727-478-8997 BK3187035

July 13, 2011 04:38 PM

With all the foreclosure activity in the market, there is good reason for prospective tenants to be concerned. Below is a bit of advice if you are looking to rent a home in Pa Foreclosed Real Estate Sign sco County, Florida.

You can try to go to the Pasco County Clerk of Court at http://www.pascoclerk.com/public-online-services-disclaimer-courts-search.asp then accept the terms of using the site if you want "I Agree to Terms", then type in the last name, and first name of owner of record under "person search". Once here, you will get all the cases filed for the name you typed in. Go into the case detail and see if you can find a foreclosure case. If the home is in foreclosure, there will be a Lis Pendens filed and a foreclosure case on record. This does not protect you if the homeowner is late on mortgage payments and may be headed towards foreclosure, but there is a "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009" that was passed in May 2009 that offers tenants who qualify certain protections when a homeowner/landlord goes into foreclosure.

I am not an attorney, but hopefully my suggestions will give you some direction that will be helpful. You would obviously be better off if you use a Realtor or Attorney to write the lease for you because I do not know if the Act protects tenants who rent directly from a homeowner/landlord.

Re-Blog

Comments(11)

Comment

Show All Comments Sort:

Kaera Mims

Liz Moore & Associates - Fort Monroe, VA

Associate Broker, e-PRO, REALTOR; Hampton, Newport News, York Co.

These foreclosure situations get really sticky if there are renters involved. Great post; thank you for sharing!

Jul 13, 2011 04:48 PM

Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL

Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Fred - the changes in the Florida Statutes protect the tenant even if the foreclosure occurs. If ther eis a valid lease, it has to be honored, unless the buyer buys it as primary residence and if this is the case, the tenant will have 90 days to vacate the property

Jul 13, 2011 04:52 PM

Scott Silverstone

William Raveis Real Estate - New Haven, CT

www.CTProperty.com, Connecticut Luxury & Waterfront Realty

This is a big problem. I have a number of clients who need to move NOW because they figured they were safe renting - they didn't consider the possibility that the landlord would lose the house.

Fred Strickroot

Fred Strickroot - HomeNet - Tampa Bay Area - 727-478-8997 - Trinity, FL

Tampa Bay Area Homes For Sale

You bet Kaera. Unfortunately there are homeowners who will decieve naive tenants regarding a potential or existing foreclosure status and STILL collect rent from the tenant while not paying the mortgage payment.

Jul 13, 2011 04:54 PM

Liz Lockhart

Riverbend Realty, Cape Girardeau, MO - Cape Girardeau, MO

GRI, Cape Girardeau Real Estate

These are great tips, Fred. As an REO agent, I discovered one of my listings was being advertised for rent on Craig's List. It was NOT for rent!

Jul 13, 2011 04:57 PM

Thanks Jon. The Act does help the tenant, but I do not think commercial tenants are included.

Thanks Scott. I guess there is a positive side of the situation that these renters turn into new customers who need to buy a home. Everything is getting stirred up now. These are interesting times.

Jul 13, 2011 04:59 PM

Thanks Liz. I have heard about some of the issues on CraigsList or other sites. I have not used CraigsList much, but I did post my dust collecting Boflex TreadClimber once and sold it within 10 minutes of the posting. The person called me from Tampa and was at my doorstep in just over an hour with cash. So my experiences with CraigsList have been POSITIVE thus far.

Wouldn't that have been something if you showed up one day to show your listing and the new tenants were moved in!

Jul 13, 2011 05:08 PM

Mimi Foster

Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO

Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

Very good information, Fred. And very helpful. With the increase in rentals in our area, and the increase in owners losing their homes, this is a wise cross reference to consider.

Jul 13, 2011 06:00 PM

Pacita Dimacali

Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA

Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

By the same token, foreclosure buyers --- particularly those who buy during the foreclosure auction at the county courthouse --- are well advised to check the occupancy of the property they're buying. Certain cities have strict rent control boards and vigilant tenant organizations that can make it nearly impossible to evict unwanted tenants.

Jul 13, 2011 09:12 PM

Thanks Mimi and Pacita. I appreciate your comments. Quite a stir up going on in many markets these days, and because of this, it is important for prospective tenants to find a good Realtor to work with that will protect the tenant's interests. Many real estate companies have associates who are skilled in handling rentals, and I do not know that a lot of consumers know that.

Jul 14, 2011 03:35 AM

Renters Beware: Protect Yourself Against Renting a Foreclosure

Comments(11)

Fred Strickroot

Service Areas

Recent Posts

Additional Information