The house I'm renting has been foreclosed on

just in case you've overlooked the obvious...

you needa find a new house.

condolences.

Yeah, so I dunno what's going to happen with that at this point. The Rent Stabilization board has told us that we can't be evicted by the bank - Berkeley has the toughest laws in the nation re: rental rights and the police enforce 'em.

I haven't heard from the new bank yet and don't know what will end up happening with them, but we're not paying rent to anyone right now.

I'd hate to move, b/c we love our place and got a sweet deal on it. It would be significantly more expensive for us to move to another nice place at this point, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen. Do banks typically evict renters who are paying up in full? Seems odd that they would cut off the money stream.

Cycloptichorn

banks act in their own best interest.

always.

I didn't live in Cali long enough to absorb any of the legal voodoo that goes on there...

(beware the DMV)

Maybe you should contact the bank. Who knows, maybe you can work out something so you can actually buy the place. Like a lease to own? I will be praying for you that this situation works out well. Times are so tough on people sad to say.

How about one of these resources?
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=9002

East Bay Community Law Center
2921 Adeline St. (new location as of April 24, 2007)
[between Ashby Ave. and Russell St.]
Berkeley, CA 94703
Telephone: 510-548-4040
Internet site: http://www.ebclc.org
Counseling and assistance in filing legal papers (for low-income tenants only). FREE community workshops for (low-income) tenants who have disputes with their landlords.

Eviction Defense Center
1611 Telegraph Ave., #726
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: 510-452-4541
Non-profit, Appt. basis, sliding scale fee: Provide legal assistance to tenants who have been served with a legal complaint or summons. On a case by case basis may intake 1 strike Section 8 evictions.

Housing Rights, Inc.
1966 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704
Telephone: 510-548-8776
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.housingrights.org/
Walk-in hours for client intake: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Counseling, representation and referrals.

Haha, I don't WANT to buy the place! That's the mistake the last owners made. I don't want to own ANY house at all at this point, they are nothing but money pits.

Not only that, but I don't even know WHO the bank is who foreclosed on them. We have basically no info. My landlord told me a few months back that he was fighting foreclosure but it looks like they lost. I wouldn't know about it at all, except for the Rent Stabilization board sending us a letter on Saturday.

Sigh

Cycloptichorn

The landlord is the place to start.

sounds like he is already very familiar with the bank in question...

Haha, I work with the East Bay Community Law Center - it's part of my law school.

In the meantime, we're just going to bank the rent money and see what happens. I've got copies of the checks for everything we've paid. Mostly I'm worried about getting our security deposit back...

Cycloptichorn

I haven't talked to him yet, figure that conversation isn't going to be great. They spent quite a bit of money trying to fix the place up this year and I figure they are plenty pissed off right now.

Cycloptichorn

but not at you, right...?

he knows things you need to know...

Well, you would think he wouldn't be pissed at me. But who knows.

I'm changing the locks on the house this weekend, I have no clue who has the other set of keys now and that's just not acceptable.

Cycloptichorn

you gonna buy a gun...?

go talk to him, and see what's up.

Not necessary



The house we live in is a big old one divided into 4 units. I'm gonna have a meeting with the other tenants (we've been living here for years and they are all basically brand new) to get a strategy together.

Cycloptichorn

A foreclosed is a matter of public record so finding out the bank should not be all that hard.

In my area all such information is on line and can be access with a simple search engine on the court website however even it that is not true in your case a visit or even a phone call to the clerk of the court office should get the name of the bank.

Oh my.

I don't have any particular good advice, but my sympathies. Talking to the other tenants and getting more information from the landlord sound like good ideas. There must be some sort of contact information in the letter?

I only got a letter from our Rent Control board here in Berkeley. They are pretty proactive about this stuff - I haven't even heard from the bank yet.

I gotta call the landlord, damn. He's got to be crushed about this. They bought the place in '07 and were upside-down on it almost immediately. They aren't bad people but it was amateur hour all the way for the last several years...

Cycloptichorn

Sympathy and interest..

It's nice that you have sympathy for the landlord. Lots of people would only be worrying about themselves.

Sorry about the hassle, but it sounds like you don't have to move anytime soon. It may actually help the bank sell the property if they already have a tenant in the property, but the new owners might want to live in it, so you might be facing a move when your lease runs out. I would get that legal advice on where you stand with the lease. The house being foreclosed might invalidate the lease and the new owner might not be as willing to give you a sweet deal.