You hear a lot these days about foreclosure and the trouble many homeowners face.
But there’s another group, largely ignored, who also know the despair and disruption foreclosure brings: renters.

AP Business Writer Adrian Sainz reveals that thousands of renters have become innocent victims of the mortgage crisis, forced to move because the owner of the property was in foreclosure, and never mentioned it. Some landlords continue to pocket rent long after they stop paying the mortgage, allowing a tenant to learn of the foreclosure only when a deputy knocks on the door to hand them a foreclosure notice.

The article points to Census data showing that 15 million renters, almost 40%, live in single-family homes, town homes, condos or duplexes which are owned by investors. “These types of rental properties have been vulnerable to foreclosure from the start, because they tend to be owned by small investors,” Sainz wrote .

Each state has its own rules about tenant’s rights and each state legislature can add protections for tenants if they choose. Colorado is one of them.
Recently, laws in a hand full of other states have also been passed or proposed to protect renters by requiring mortgage holders to provide sufficient notice for tenants living in foreclosed properties, but of course this comes as too little too late, for more than a few.

Apparently, The National Low Income Housing Coalition has tried to get the Federal Government to offer a small portion of the recent bailout legislation funds to help with relocation assistance for renters if they are evicted due to the owner’s foreclosure, but no cigar. The group intends to continue pursuing federal aide for foreclosure’s other victims.

Photo by pbo31, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.