DC Laws On Foreclosure Evictions Let Tenants Stay Put Until Lender Resells Home

Buried in a recent article in The Washington Post on tenants finding themselves unwittingly caught up in foreclosure rent scams is this excerpt on the protection afforded tenants renting from a landlord in foreclosure in Washington, D.C.:

• The District has some of the nation's strongest tenant protection laws. D.C. renters can stay put after a house is foreclosed on, said Julie Becker, a senior staff lawyer at the District's Legal Aid Society. The tenant would then pay rent to the bank until the bank sells the home. If a new owner wants to move in, it's up to him or her to evict the renter, Becker said. If the owner does not move in, the tenant has the right to stay.

• "But a lot of renters don't know that," Becker said. "They get a notice in the mail, usually addressed to the owner, saying they have to move out within 30 days, and they just pack up and leave." The Office of the Tenant Advocate, an independent city agency, now receives 10 to 12 calls a week from panicked renters, said Lennie Mitchell, the agency's spokesman. Next week, the agency plans to post a form on its Web site that tenants can send to the banks informing them of D.C. laws. It plans to follow up with a marketing blitz that includes public-service TV ads.

For the story, see Foreclosure Crisis Catching Renters Off Guard.

For other posts involving the problems tenants face in rented homes in foreclosure, go here, go here, go here, go here, go here, go here, and go here. TenantRentSkimmingAlpha