Your landlord is in breach of his implied obligations to maintain the property free of any encumberances that could interfere with your right to possession. Once it goes to foreclosure, the landlord is no longer the owner so he has no right to receive rent. Technically, the bank would be entitled to it but i doubt they are coming after you. i would set it aside and wait for someone to ask for it. I am an attorney and I can tell you without reservation that i would not give anyone another $1 in rent.
Wow...what is the source of your misinformation that you are passing around? The homeowner remains the owner until the passing of the deed. The tenant is not party to a foreclosure proceeding. Ask me how I KNOW this.
At no point did I say the tenant was a party to the foreclosure or the homeowner was no longer the the owner prior to the deed passing. My point is simply that if the landlord is in breach, the tenant can withold payment. Especially if the owner has misappropriated the security deposit. Honestly, I don't care who pays their rent or who they pay it to. Someone asked for free advice and thats what they are getting.
FWIW, we have no intention of not paying our rent to the landlord, whether he handles his responsibilities or not. I wasn't looking for advice on how to beat the system or stay indefinitely without paying. I was simply looking for someone with knowledge of how foreclosures work in a landlord/tenant situation and what kind of timeframe we're looking at. Ezdriver, do you have experience with this personally?
Yes I do. I had a process server deliver foreclosure notices to my wife and I ... and we were tenants, not owners. I consulted two attorneys. Was told by both that my obligations as defined in my lease is not affected by the forclosure of the home. New owner took possession of the house and I was allowed to remain a tenant until my lease expired ... then I moved out and into a new home that I bought. Google the issue and you will find a lot of information. It is a terrible position to be in as a tenant ... but move out is the best thing for the tenant. All the best to you.
Will the landlord be able to report late/no payment to the credit bureau? Or would it be a collections type situation?
Any rate, have an exit plan as it sounds more like a when than an if...
Yes, the current owner can really mess up the tenant's credit ... like taking the tenat to court and securing a judgement. Try getting a judgement off a credit repot ... near impossible.
