Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I keep hearing news stories about renters, who pay their rent every month on time, are finding out their owners haven't been paying their morgage and the renter is suddently out of luck. The Renters have no clue anything is going on. They are paying the rent. Any notices from the bank would go to the owners, not them. The Renters don't know a thing till a sherriff deputy or someone shows up. This summer will be our first time renting in a non-military area. I'm just a little worried, as desperate people do desperate things. Do rental agencies do credit checks? Can we do credit checks on the owners? Can we get any type of proof they are paying every month and there is no problem? We're military, so we've got guaranteed employment, and we'll be there for 3 years. I just don't want to get screwed at anytime during this stay. I don't think I'd be as worried if we were living in a military area. But times are tricky outside NYC. Times are tricky everywhere for a lot of people. And if owners are in trouble, and only going to pay one morage, it's most likely going to be on the house they are living in, not necessarily the one I'm living in and paying for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I don't know the answer to your question. But I am wondering how it would hurt you if the place was foreclosed on except to have to move to another rental? It doesn't hurt you financially unless they don't return your deposit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Actually it would hurt a lot. First off there is the huge cost of movers to come in and pack you and move you. Then there is just the huge pain in having to change over everything to a new address. Getting all the utilities turned off and moved over, and they need notice. You certainly don't want them left on. Too often, the owners come back and destory the place to "get back" at the bank or morgage company or whatever. That's you paying for the water that completley flooded the the first floor when all the faucets are left on with the drains plugged. And if the sherrif comes to evict you, I'm not sure you have any real notice. Just Hi, were here, get out, you have so many hours. Plus you'd have to be able to find another place. There aren't many rentals to begin with in the area we are looking at. And once we move in, we don't want to move out until the movers come to PCS us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I think your idea is great! I bet that a lot of good renters want to start credit checking their landlords. It makes sense...Either that, or permission to call the creditors each month to make sure that the mortgage is paid. Good Idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabeline Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Oh, wow. I didn't worry about it til now.:001_huh: I have never thought to check up on our landlord. I don't see how you could ask a company to give you any information on another person's account. I wonder if they would evict people with no notice if the landlord has not paid. I think by law you are supposed to get maybe a 30 day notice. I'm not sure. Maybe you could look into your state's eviction laws and find some information out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You can't do a credit check without permission. Every time you apply for credit and have a credit check run, you have to fill out a form and sign it first. I don't think you'll be able to do that with a landlord. Also there is a cost involved for each of the credit reporting agencies. Banks and other businesses that provide a line of credit usually pay that fee as part of a contract. And you'd have to know which of the Big Three your landlord's mortgage company reports to. Experian may have it or Transunion or the other one. Or two out of three or some other combination that will be hard to keep up with. Not to mention the privacy laws. You'd have to have the potential landlord's social security number. I can't see anyone giving that information out to someone who rents from them. The potential for identity theft is too great. So doing a credit check on a landlord will be something very difficult to do even once, much less on a monthly basis. Things you have described are part of the risk of being a renter. If you don't want to take that risk, look into an established apartment complex or buy. You can ask your prospective landlord if the property you want to rent is paid for. If it is then you don't have to worry about a foreclosure. Actually, I think that is part of the county record. Check with the county the house is in. They might be able to tell you if there is a mortgage on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanga Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 This happened to us back in 1989 when we were renting a condo (of course my dh was out to sea). I called the military legal department and they helped me handle everything. I had all of the utilities turned off before I vacated. I cleaned the place and then documented it with pictures and had witnesses, so that I could not be charged for things the owners did. Another financial hardship is that you will not get your deposit back from your landlord if the home is foreclosed. I was well aware of the risks when we rented this time, but I was pretty sure that home values were going to decline in our area and I did not want to be upside down in a loan when we moved in 3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Things you have described are part of the risk of being a renter. If you don't want to take that risk, look into an established apartment complex or buy. Well we certainly aren't go to buy something when we are only ever going to be in a location for 2 or 3 years. Especially now. Buying would be great, but the selling is too much hassel. I want to live next to Manhatten, not in Manhatten, so an apartment is out of the question. If it was a military community it wouldn't bother me. But this is the NYC/Long Island area. No military around there but us! We'll probably be Air Force till they age my husband out. That's another 18 years or so we'll be renting. We don't want to buy anything for short quick tours till we know where we want to retire. Right now, no real clue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I just talked to my father about this last week. It looks like we will be renting and paying on our home beginning next month. :glare: My father said one thing you can do is insist that your security deposit and last month's rent or pet deposit (if required) go into an escrow account rather than just being given to the landlord. You can also stipulate what happens in case of foreclosure right into your lease. That way you at least get the escrow money back. You can also ask (demand :)) to see proof that the home is paid up-to-date when you first move in. You can go online and make sure the taxes are paid as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 I just talked to my father about this last week. It looks like we will be renting and paying on our home beginning next month. :glare: My father said one thing you can do is insist that your security deposit and last month's rent or pet deposit (if required) go into an escrow account rather than just being given to the landlord. You can also stipulate what happens in case of foreclosure right into your lease. That way you at least get the escrow money back. You can also ask (demand :)) to see proof that the home is paid up-to-date when you first move in. You can go online and make sure the taxes are paid as well. Thank you Melissa, this is helpful. I'll be sure to check out the taxes and ask if things are paid up to date. What I'd really love would be some sort of monthly reciept/ copy of cancelled check or somthing from the owners saying they paid up every month, but that may be pushing it. However it may become a new trend with the way things are going in some places. I don't worry about the deposit so much. Yes of course I'd like it back, but if something happens, it's no big deal. What I don't want to have to worry about is finding a new place and then hiring movers to come in and box everything back up and move it over two streets or something! I sometimes still have things in boxes or closets when the movers come to move us out, that were put there when we moved into the place two years earlier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Things you have described are part of the risk of being a renter. If you don't want to take that risk, look into an established apartment complex or buy. It's not that simple for everyone though - many people are renting because they can *not* buy. They don't have a good enough credit score (for whatever reason - it doesn't automatically mean they are bad with money. Financial difficulties happen), they don't have a downpayment, they don't make enough money to qualify for a mortgage, etc etc etc. Not everyone rents because they *want* to rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Actually, there was a piece on this on Marketplace the other day. In this economy, and particularly in this housing market, when banks are foreclosing on rentals, they are continuing to rent the property to the tenants. They derive income before reselling and the property stays in much better shape, since it's being used. (Utilities stay on, no flooding, freezing pipes, etc.) You essentially become their tenant, and then you have all the recourse you would have if you landlord decided to sell the property and wanted it to be empty for the transaction. That would depend on the state, though, and their rules for (probably) month-to-month leases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamrachelle Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 In the event that anything like this happens you could always go to base legal. I would imagine they would help with some sort of remuneration on moving expenses incurred. Good luck with your PCS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You ought to also be able to run a check for any current litigation involving the owner and/or property. 1) Go to the property appraiser's website and look up the property address. You'll find the current owner. 2) You can also probably link to the tax office and see whether property taxes are current. 3) Then, run the owner's name or corporate name through the pending civil and criminal case database. These are open to the public and can usually be accessed online (though I've not done it in a long time). 4) If you need help, call or visit the clerk of courts. 5) Thought of one more thing: you might check the local federal court to determine whether the owner is involved in any pending bankruptcy. HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristangrace Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You could also look to live in an owner-occupied building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You can watch the newspaper too. I know in CA they have to advertise it 30 days before they foreclose on you, i'm not sure how it is elsewhere. And i can see any bank wanting a good tenant to stay, so that is a good thing to keep in mind too. For a short move like you'd be facing if it did happen - i'd hire movers to move big heavy furniture, but not do a full fledge move. 2 days with a uhaul would be enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonesloonybin Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I know here (NC) we got a notice from the sheriff that if the owner does not do XYZ in __ days then they will begin to foreclose on the property. (This time it was because the Homeowner's Association said the owner had not paid the dues LAST MONTH. That is right...not even 30 days late yet and they were starting the forclosure process. We rent through a Property Management Company. The dues are included in our rent. When I called them..they had NO IDEA what was going on. I did make a copy of the paperwork that the deputy posted on our door and then gave the original to the PM company. I don't know if you can do that (copies) but I wanted to be prepared and keep records. It would be horrible for us if we had to move with no warning. If we had a few months, we could do it but it would still be hard. And if we did not get back our deposit..that would really kill us right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 This is exactly what we did and it cost us over $800. We moved everything we could physically move ourselves and only paid people to move the furniture. It still ran us that much. We didn't even have to spend money on packing materials (boxes, etc) because we still had them from our previous move. So if we had to buy that you are looking at another $200. Moving is not cheap. Oh i know it's not cheap - we moved ourselves cross country (took 3 trips) and it was still wayyyy cheaper than hiring movers. Even after we bought a trailer! LOL!! The OP might not have paid movers herself though, the military hires them - so she is used to it all just happening and might not know that it would be in the thousands to do for short distance. Having someone come in a pack your stuff into boxes to move under 10 miles still is the same amount of labor as if you are moving 1000. I just wanted to point that out, more than likely movers for it all wouldn't really be a reasonable solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 My landlord it like 95 yrs old and lives with his son in the next town. They are they type of people who pay for stuff out right. So, I really don't worry about it much. Also as others have stated it is one of the risks you face as a renter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Actually, there was a piece on this on Marketplace the other day. In this economy, and particularly in this housing market, when banks are foreclosing on rentals, they are continuing to rent the property to the tenants. They derive income before reselling and the property stays in much better shape, since it's being used. (Utilities stay on, no flooding, freezing pipes, etc.) You essentially become their tenant, and then you have all the recourse you would have if you landlord decided to sell the property and wanted it to be empty for the transaction. That would depend on the state, though, and their rules for (probably) month-to-month leases. I have heard this too, and it is happening around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristangrace Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 The other way to get "advance info" on possible foreclosure is to ask the other tenants about their abilities and attitudes are toward paying rent. We were able to sell our multi-unit property before we were foreclosed (praise the LORD!), but we came mighty close to being foreclosed. Many, many tenants had gotten laid off. Some were making a good-faith effort to keep up their rent; some people simply prioritized paying the rent dead last because they knew that in our city, the eviction process usually takes four to six months--in some people's minds, that's several months of "free housing." In any case, if your fellow tenants are losing their jobs and/or have limited motivation to prioritize paying their rent, that could be an "early indicator" that the landlord is in trouble. I assume big companies are better off than "mom-and-pop" owners like us, but in any case, an owner has to have hundreds of thousands of dollars in reserve or credit to survive many months of with tenants who aren't paying their rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 As a landlord, I am terrified of our renters not making payments. We've begun eviction process twice already. They've only been our tenants since summer. :sneaky2: ETA: I would never authorize a potential or current tenant to view our credit rating. It's not beneficial to us, and none of their business. I'd skip that tenant and move on to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I was really anxious about this since we had to move this fall and into an area where house prices have fallen a lot. As it is, we are rentling a property that was originally for sale or rent. We are paying them 300 dollars a month less than the mortgage. We have a two year lease with military clause. We had gone to base legal to find out what our options were since I am extremely nervouse about losing 3000 pus the costs of moving if that happened. They told us that there has been made a special provision recently for military members is that situation. The military will help with a new deposit and move you at government expense. Why didn't we buy? Because my dh is here for an undetermined length of time and probably two years or less. Also the house prices here are ridiculous which is why they are falling so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I was really anxious about this since we had to move this fall and into an area where house prices have fallen a lot. As it is, we are rentling a property that was originally for sale or rent. We are paying them 300 dollars a month less than the mortgage. We have a two year lease with military clause. We had gone to base legal to find out what our options were since I am extremely nervouse about losing 3000 pus the costs of moving if that happened. They told us that there has been made a special provision recently for military members is that situation. The military will help with a new deposit and move you at government expense. Why didn't we buy? Because my dh is here for an undetermined length of time and probably two years or less. Also the house prices here are ridiculous which is why they are falling so much. That is great to hear they will help you out! What a huge relief... Of course, on the flip side - the non-military folks don't have that option. So i'm hoping to hear more about banks letting renters stay. I can understand the OP's nervousness in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camibami Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 It *is* scary, and there should be some provision for renters I feel. Our neighbor had this happen- the house she was renting went into foreclosure. She had 1 week to get out, no notice, nothing. She'd been faithfulyl paying her rent, and the landlord was pocketing it and not makign the house payments. She had no rights to any information about the house's status, nothing. It just seems really wrong. She ended up getting an extension of a few weeks so that she could stay in the house until she could get into an apartment at the beginning of the next month and not lose an entire months rent, but it just stunk. Her kids had to move schools, and they ended up moving again in a few weeks- the apartment complex turned out to have a lot of crime, but she was in a pinch and couldn't really research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 See this kind of bothers me. While I understand your point of view, why is it okay for a landlord to view my credit rating, but not ok the other way around? I think it is totally unfair to be in a position of paying for a service if I am not allowed to know if the service is worth paying for. KWIM? I understand your POV. However, home rental is a business. There isn't a reciprocal arrangement. Viewing the owner's credit rating doesn't have any bearing on the renter's contract. If the rating was high enough to purchase the home, that should be adequate. Like you said, in this economy anything can happen from one day to the next. fwiw, I don't mean to sound arrogant. I like to protect my credit rating and avoid giving out the info when possible. We have very few credit cards (compared to average American, anyhow) because of this choice. Should a perspective renter request our insurance I would nicely decline and suggest they find another home. We've been both renters and tenants for many years, so I understand what you're saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 There was an article on this a few weeks ago in our paper. Apparently the bank will send notice to the house it has a mortgage on not to the owners new address in the event of a forecloser. The renter can call the mortgage company and let them know you are renting the house about to go into foreclosure and most lenders are honoring the leases of people in such a situation. Key word would be communication. I do not know if this is the same in all states and I understand that it is of great concern. Hope everything works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 There was an article on this a few weeks ago in our paper. Apparently the bank will send notice to the house it has a mortgage on not to the owners new address in the event of a forecloser. The renter can call the mortgage company and let them know you are renting the house about to go into foreclosure and most lenders are honoring the leases of people in such a situation. Key word would be communication. I do not know if this is the same in all states and I understand that it is of great concern. Hope everything works out. That's great information. It could be a win-win for everyone, provided the communication works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 We went through a rental company and I'm glad we did for that very reason. Someone owns this house (two very nice ladies), and they pay 10% of our rent to the company we pay the rent to. This company not only looked into us, but they looked into them. They don't want to be left high and dry holding the bag either. There was another company we were looking at renting from, and I didn't have a good feeling about them. The houses weren't clean or freshly painted, and they just let me have the keys to go look at all the houses on our own. While that was fun, you can tell when a company takes pride in their properties. Our rental agency paints and cleans EVERY house EVERY time someone moves out, whether it needs it or not. And, no one goes in to look at a house without an agent from the company. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You ought to also be able to run a check for any current litigation involving the owner and/or property. 1) Go to the property appraiser's website and look up the property address. You'll find the current owner. 2) You can also probably link to the tax office and see whether property taxes are current. 3) Then, run the owner's name or corporate name through the pending civil and criminal case database. These are open to the public and can usually be accessed online (though I've not done it in a long time). 4) If you need help, call or visit the clerk of courts. 5) Thought of one more thing: you might check the local federal court to determine whether the owner is involved in any pending bankruptcy. HTH, Lisa This is a GREAT list! I would add, talk to current tenants about the landlords. Have they had any problems getting repairs done, are they easy to work with etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You ought to also be able to run a check for any current litigation involving the owner and/or property. 1) Go to the property appraiser's website and look up the property address. You'll find the current owner. 2) You can also probably link to the tax office and see whether property taxes are current. 3) Then, run the owner's name or corporate name through the pending civil and criminal case database. These are open to the public and can usually be accessed online (though I've not done it in a long time). 4) If you need help, call or visit the clerk of courts. 5) Thought of one more thing: you might check the local federal court to determine whether the owner is involved in any pending bankruptcy. HTH, Lisa I was going to suggest you do this very thing. For step #3 - go to your county's (county where the property is located) website and do a public record search on the owner's name. Any foreclosure filings from the bank should be listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 When dh was military & we were renting off base, the house we were in got foreclosed on. The rental company told us about it (I don't know how they knew) and we were able to keep renting from the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Our landlord's family has lived on this land since the mid-1800s, at least. He lives on the property and helped build the house we rent when he was 14 years old (he's 75 now). We aren't concerned with him being foreclosed on... the house and land have been paid off for years. We have only minor concern that if the economy tanks, he will need this house for one of his grown children and their family. I don't think it's likely, though. He is also an elder in our church, so if we were ever really in need of housing, we could probably find something through the church... it's how we found this house in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 In the event that anything like this happens you could always go to base legal. I would imagine they would help with some sort of remuneration on moving expenses incurred. Good luck with your PCS. See that's the only reason I'm worried. There is no base. It's a civilian residency program. We'll be living as civilians for the next 3 years. He may be assigned to a Nat. Guard unit or maybe McGuire in Trenton, but that's a good 3 to 3 1/2 hours away at least. If we were in a military community, it wouldn't bother me. We rent because there are always plenty of rentals in a military area. Plus then we don't have to compete with everyone else selling because they are also moving during PCS season. And we just aren't in any one place long enough, or it's not the place we want to be. (We don't know where that is yet. Got plenty of years to figure it out.) If we were cilivians again, we'd be certainly be buying agian, it's a wonderful buyers market. But for the next 3 years, we're sort of this funky mix inbetween. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 For a short move like you'd be facing if it did happen - i'd hire movers to move big heavy furniture, but not do a full fledge move. 2 days with a uhaul would be enough! No possible. My husband is doing a residency program. His last residency program we refered to him as "deployed to Lackland" (the base 20minutes away where the program was) because they just aren't around during residency. Even if he was around, us doing it would be a really, really bad thing for our marriage! LOL! The cost isn't the big deal. It's proboably be only 2-3 thousand dollars. It's just the hassel of all of it I'm trying to avoid dealing with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 As a landlord, I am terrified of our renters not making payments. We've begun eviction process twice already. They've only been our tenants since summer. :sneaky2: ETA: I would never authorize a potential or current tenant to view our credit rating. It's not beneficial to us, and none of their business. I'd skip that tenant and move on to the next. Yes but did your Property Manager run a credit on you? Would you have let them do that before they took you on as a client? So they knew what they were dealing with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yes but did your Property Manager run a credit on you? Would you have let them do that before they took you on as a client? So they knew what they were dealing with? No, they didn't. Guess they could have just as easily checked liens and lawsuits against the rental property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Thanks everyone! Boy a lot happens during the night arond here sometimes! I wasn't expecting so many replies when I got up! I stopped indivually posting replies when I realized how far behind I was. FloridaLisa - great list. MeanestMomInMidwest - good to know your Property Management company was on top of it. Lynn- That was great to know the banks are sending the info to the house address, not jsut the owner address. I'll be sure to ask the agent if that holds true for NY. Christina in Space Coast - great to know about the special provisions made for military in the foreclosur situation. And you explained it perfectly why military people don't buy. We are here for an undetermined lenght of time. We always have a military clause. First base, we had to use it because we left early. If we weren't on base here, we'd have to use it again, because once again, we are leaving early. Also if you are buying and selling with each move, and are stuck in the PCS summer rotation (which we are due to residencies) you are selling and moving the same time as everyone else. Something like 75%-80% of the moves that go on every year are during PCS season. It's not spread out like a normal neighborhood would have a house here and a house there. As for suggestions to talk to the current tenants, I think in all the houses we've ever looked at, only 1 or 2 had people still living in them, and they weren't home during the time we walked through. I guess we could go back and talk to that one or two houses after they are home from work, on our own, but otherwise, people have already moved on. Thank everyone. It's just a little nerve racking to try and do this from Japan and it not being a military community. I wouldn't trade this move for anything, I'm so excited to move back to the city. And if it was Manhatten, and a regular apartment building, I wouldn't worry. But since it's a regular house, owned by regular people, I'm just trying to think ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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