Lenders Lax In Maintaining Foreclosed Properties As Tenants Struggle In Rotting Homes

In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports:

• Despite a year-old city ordinance designed to keep foreclosed properties from falling into disrepair, many lenders who have taken over properties are absentee landlords. That leaves [...] tenants [...] to cope with decaying living conditions in apartments that, in many cases, were already substandard. Some struggle to receive basic services, such as heat and hot water, and they often don't know whom to contact in an emergency.

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• [P]ublic documents show about 27 percent of the 1,566 properties that entered the foreclosure process since the ordinance took effect last year are not registered. Without that information, it is difficult for the city to monitor property upkeep.

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• State lawmakers are considering legislation for a statewide registration program similar to Boston's. But housing activists say that even if lenders register, they seldom offer a way for tenants to get in touch with them, even though they are supposed to post 24-hour contact information on foreclosed buildings.

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• Some renters, [...] are caught in a kind of ownership limbo - the landlord is gone, but the bank has not completed foreclosure proceedings.(1)

For more, see Forgotten in foreclosures, renters forced to live in decaying homes.

(1) The apparent rough treatment some foreclosing lenders and servicers have been giving Boston-area tenants has been the subject of two earlier posts where, with the help of local pro bono counsel, the tenants have been able to return the rough treatment. See:

• 2-4-09: Legal Aid Obtains Settlement For Boston-Area Tenants Facing Foreclosure Eviction; Lender Coughs Up $40K, Gives Renters Option To Buy Building,
• 12-30-08: Boston Legal Aid Firm Wins $54K Jury Verdict For Tenant Illegally Booted In Foreclosure Eviction; Now Seek Triple Damages, Attorney Fee From Servicer.