Failure To Receive 60-Day Notice, Being Bulldozed Into Unfavorable Agreements Among Complaints From California Tenants In Homes Facing Foreclosure

In San Mateo, California, a story in the San Mateo County Times on the problems facing local tenants renting homes in foreclosure contained the following excerpt on the affect of new rules in effect to help tenants in these situations:

• [S]hirley Gibson, an attorney with the nonprofit Legal Aid Society of San Mateo, said the new rules have done little to stop the flood of renters coming to her for help. She holds drop-in clinics around the county three times a week for homeowners facing foreclosure and, more recently, renters being told they have to leave their homes. The clinics are packed, and only getting busier.

• Common complaints are tenants not being given 60 days' notice to vacate, as required by California law, and tenants not being given 24-hour notice before a landlord visit. Gibson said many of the people she counsels are low-income, non-English speakers who are pressured into signing agreements that are not in their favor. "I've seen tons of this over the last couple of months," she said. "We have a huge population of chronically underemployed and these folks are always at the edge of their income, and the landlords and realtors have a hard time respecting the rules."(1)

For the story, see Duplex foreclosed on, renter struggles to stay (Amid foreclosure, renter struggles to stay).

For an article directed to California tenants living in homes in forecloure, addressing some of their legal rights, see see Tenants of Foreclosed Homes Often Short-Changed by New Owners.

(1) It may be important to note that, in the case of a tenant who receives a Section 8 federal rent subsidy (ie. a "Section 8" tenant), it has been reported that federal law prohibits a new owner, including foreclosure purchasers and foreclosing lenders, from evicting Section 8 tenants unless they first go to court and prove they’re being economically harmed by having a tenant remain in a building, or show other good cause. However, many Section 8 tenants panic and don’t fight eviction notices, not realizing they have rights. For more on this point, see Foreclosures hit tenants (Activists: New owners trample on renters’ rights).

For the specific federal regulation on this point, see 24 CFR 982.310(d)(1). Go here for the regulations (24 CFR 982) regulating the Section 8 rent subsidy program, generally. SkimmingKappaRent