Landlord/Tenant question

[Gravitykillr]

Hey Everyone,
just a quick questions, if a Landlord signs a 1 year Lease with their tenants and then defaults and has a foreclosure done on the property is there any legal recourse for me in this case? I still have 8 months left on my lease and I just don't know what I can do or what my options are at this point any help would be appreciated.

[photon]

Interesting question. I don't know but wouldn't a foreclosure still just be a change of ownership? If someone buys a rental property and there's a lease, they buy the lease too I thought.

[Knut]

I believe it would fall under the law governing a new owner. They would buy the lease, but could break the lease under the terms of the agreement. You should get the same period of time given under the lease

from http://www.slsedmonton.com/civil/lan...ord-obligation

8. New Landlords
A new landlord who buys property already rented to a tenant has all the rights and obligations of the old landlord. The new landlord must accept the original tenancy agreements and can only change the tenancy agreements when the original agreements expire or by agreement with the tenants. Furthermore, the Residential Tenancies Act requires a new landlord to serve the tenant with a notice of landlord and a record of the security deposit amount including applicable interest accrued. The new landlord is responsible for refunding security deposits.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Hesla

I believe it would fall under the law governing a new owner. They would buy the lease, but could break the lease under the terms of the agreement. You should get the same period of time given under the lease

from http://www.slsedmonton.com/civil/lan...ord-obligation

I concur.

[T@T]

I lost a DD to this once, the landlord lost the place without my knowledge in the 12th month so I was hooped. I would put your rent away until a new owner comes in or at least one months worth.

[Gravitykillr]

Thanks for the quick responses everyone, it's been a stressful day at work to say the least, my wife sent me an email after she spoke to the lawyer handling the foreclosure. I'm considering putting stop payments on every check I gave him and if he calls me telling him where to go because he obviously hasn't been spending my rent money where he was supposed to.

[Ice]

Renters are getting screwed big time in this mess. You pay your rent like you're supposed to but the homeowner isn't paying their mortgage and you can end up forced to move. There needs to be some sort of protection in all this mess for renters. I would absolutely stop paying rent from this day on and stop payments on any checks that haven't already cleared and find a new place to live.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Ice

Renters are getting screwed big time in this mess. You pay your rent like you're supposed to but the homeowner isn't paying their mortgage and you can end up forced to move. There needs to be some sort of protection in all this mess for renters. I would absolutely stop paying rent from this day on and stop payments on any checks that haven't already cleared and find a new place to live.

So the new landlord is forced to hold to the tenant agreement, but you would stop paying him rent so he has no choice but to throw you out?

Seems self defeating to me.

[Ice]

Typically, foreclosures aren't sold until an eviction has been made on the premises. If I was able to confirm that legally I would not be evicted I would consider making payments. Even then, I'm not sure I'd want to be in that mess.

If your landlord isn't making his mortgage payments despite you giving him rent money, you're going to get thrown out anyway when the foreclosure happens. I'd rather control my own destiny and get out. I imagine an impending foreclosure is enough to get out of a lease contract.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Ice

Typically, foreclosures aren't sold until an eviction has been made on the premises. If I was able to confirm that legally I would not be evicted I would consider making payments. Even then, I'm not sure I'd want to be in that mess.

If your landlord isn't making his mortgage payments despite you giving him rent money, you're going to get thrown out anyway when the foreclosure happens. I'd rather control my own destiny and get out. I imagine an impending foreclosure is enough to get out of a lease contract.

8. New Landlords
A new landlord who buys property already rented to a tenant has all the rights and obligations of the old landlord. The new landlord must accept the original tenancy agreements and can only change the tenancy agreements when the original agreements expire or by agreement with the tenants. Furthermore, the Residential Tenancies Act requires a new landlord to serve the tenant with a notice of landlord and a record of the security deposit amount including applicable interest accrued. The new landlord is responsible for refunding security deposits.

You still have an agreement, and the house being sold, foreclosure or not, has no bearing on that agreement. If you chose to violate that agreement by not paying rent, it will give them grounds to throw you out.

[Ice]

I don't see specific language to foreclosures in there, but your laws are likely different in Canada. If that's the case, your renters are very lucky.

I know two different people who were renting and were evicted by law enforcement with three days notice. They had no rights as renters and were not entitled to any of their money back except for the security deposit (which neither got). Neither had any idea that their landlord wasn't making mortgage payments nor were they aware there was a risk of foreclosure on the property they were living in. Its not very easy to find a place to rent for a family of four in three days.

[Gravitykillr]

We spoke to a Lawyer on Friday and he said to keep paying our current landlord until the Bank comes to us and tells us otherwise, from my understanding of the situation once the Bank get the foreclosure cleared through the courts the home owner has 90 days to pay up the mortgage or give up the property, I could be wrong but from what I've been getting told from a family friend in the mortgage business that's part of the reason I should keep paying my rent at this time

[Ice]

How did you find out your landlord wasn't making the mortgage payment? Did they tell you or were you notified by the lender?

I'm just wondering because the people I know where shocked. I wonder if renters can call mortgage companies to see if their landlord's mortgage is current, just for peace of mind.