Washington Mutual, Countrywide Accused Of Illegally Booting Oakland Tenants In Foreclosed Homes

In Oakland, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:

• Renters in the East Bay have been forced out of their homes because the owners of those homes have defaulted on their loans. One Oakland grandmother is facing eviction by Washington Mutual bank even though it's illegal in Oakland to force out a renter for any reason other than just cause.

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• Since 2002, when Oakland passed Prop EE, it's been illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant unless they have just cause and a foreclosure [doesn't] change that. The East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley is trying to help [one tenant] and dozens of others keep their homes. [...] Oakland doesn't know how many of these illegal renter evictions are going on, but City Attorney John Russo says he's put banks and eviction agencies on notice.

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• WaMu returned our calls to say that although their attorney's names appear on all the eviction notices that [one tenant] received the loan belongs to Countrywide.

For more, see WaMu kicks out renters. equity skimming unwittingly epsilon