Foreclosure Eviction Forces Couple, Four Kids, Two Elderly Foster Care Clients From Rented Home; Out $2.5K Security Deposit, Cost Of Home Improvements

In Eugene, Oregon, The Register Guard reports:

• Three months into a year long lease, renters Al and Rene Ako had to pack up their children and two elderly foster care clients and move. They had to move out of a house in the Ferry Street Bridge area of Eugene even through they had paid their rent on schedule and otherwise held up their end of the landlord-tenant bargain.

• Additionally, they paid for a fence around the backyard pool and a new window on a downstairs bedroom so the house could meet state foster care license requirements. They had planned to stay at least five years, Rene Ako said. But, instead, they were out in a matter of months. “I have four children, so it’s a big deal to me,” Ako said. “It was extremely stressful. I was crying and just really upset and nervous about it.”

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• Rene Ako said the family still needs the return of the [$2,500 security deposit] money to cover the deposits on the family’s new rental house and for moving expenses. “I had to call Senior Services and explain to them what had happened, and I had to call all the family members [of the two elderly foster care clients] and explain and tell them we had to move again.(1)

For the story, see Foreclosures Hit Renters, Too (Some lose their homes when landlords default on mortgages; new laws aim to protect tenants’ rights) (if link expires, try here).

(1) Both Congress and the Oregon Legislature passed laws this spring to protect renters during foreclosure of the house they occupy. The new federal law (see Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, which is found at Title VII of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009) requires banks or other buyers in foreclosure situations to allow tenants in the properties at least 90 days from the date of the foreclosure auction to move, if the tenants had month-to-month rental terms; and tenants with a lease can stay until the lease expires — six months or a year or longer — with a single exception. If the purchaser of the property intends to use the property as a primary residence, the renter must go after 90 days.

The new Oregon law, effective August 23, 2009, allows tenants to choose to apply their deposit and other prepaid rental sums to their final months in the house, after they formally notify the landlord of their intention to do so. The new Oregon law requires the bank, investor group or other foreclosing entity to notify the tenant as well as the landlord when it begins foreclosure proceedings. Tenants are required to give the bank or other foreclosing entity a copy of their rental agreement at least 30 days before the scheduled foreclosure auction to secure the protections. RentSigmaSkimming assisted living