SSNL [cheese] thread: JULY (nc)

[tkkjsoup]

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Tkk,
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Sorry if my inside joke detector is dysfunctional, but if your questions are serious, the answers are:
1. Yes.

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Unfortunately, I'm not joking. Before you posted, I detailed the situation but I don't know if you saw it. My main questions of concern are:

1. Since I had a legal and valid contract, is the new landlord forced to assume that contract as she knowingly purchased a foreclosed rental property? If so, is it the bank's responsibility to retrieve the money that I paid the old landlord (rather than mine) while he was legally entitled to it?

A lawyer was appointed collector of rent by the court while the house was being resold by the bank. He said he didn't have much info about the case, but believes that since we weren't served at any time prior to the foreclosure, that our contact remains valid and that the bank was trying to recoup our rent money from the old landlord.



Chip,
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Not much hard legal advice here Merc, just some "I've been through similar" advice....

On the lease, there is a very good chance that foreclosure and transfer of ownership of the property will void your lease, and if that's the case, then recovering your money from the former landlord may well be your problem.

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This would totally suck. I am not well versed in law yet, but I've taken a few courses and this doesn't seem to be the way logic behind contract law works: It would lead to the reductio adsurdum that by foreclosing on his property, the BANK FORCED the landlord to break a legal and valid contract.

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A situation like this completely and totally sucks, but you don't want to make it worse by going to war with someone over the money until you have your facts and legal arguments 100% straight. She will not want to lose the easy money of a tenant already in place, you want a place to live, and the hours you could burn on the legalities if it comes to a fight could make recovering your cash pay like minimum wage. So whatever she says, find a way to make a deal.

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Well, I definitely want to know what can legally happen before I talk with this woman so I know how assertive I can be.

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Sorry it took me so long to get back here, Merc. Depends upon which state you're in and I cannot give legal advice in states in which I'm not licensed, so you should check with a lawyer licensed in your state before you rely on any advice from me.

Anyway, the purchase of real estate is essentially always "subject to" any existing leases, especially if the purchaser was aware that the property had a tenant at the time of purchase, which seems to be the case here. After you check with your lawyer to make sure your state doesn't have a weird rule, you should feel pretty confident that the new landlord is totally bound by the terms of your existing written lease.

Of course, she can evict you under the terms of the existing lease if the terms of that lease allow eviction. If she wants to negotiate a new lease, just make sure that the new terms for you are as good as or better than the old terms, or don't sign it.

Good luck and PM me if you have any more Qs. I'll be out tomorrow but will check in for sure on Sunday.

Edit: Unless you received some sort of legal notice requiring you to pay rent to someone other than your original landlord, the act of paying him would normally have completely satisfied your obligation to pay rent for that month. If he was supposed to sign it over to the purchaser, then that is a private contract matter between old landlord and new landlord. Doesn't look like you have much of a problem unless you knowingly paid rent to someone you weren't supposed to. Again, check with your local lawyer to be sure, and definitely don't rely on my advice because I'm probably not licensed in your state. I can recommend a good lawyer in your state for you on Monday if you want.