Another Tenant In Building In Foreclosure Faces Immediate Boot Due To Landlord's Unpaid Water Bill

In Visalia, California, the Visalia Times Delta reports:

• By April, [Tracy Wood] and a friend were able to save enough money for the security deposit on a two-bedroom apartment. The deposit was steep more than $2,000 but the $675-a-month rent was just the right price. "I finally thought I was getting back on my feet," she said. Now she's about to become homeless again.

• The notices of foreclosure started to arrive a few months after she moved in. She called the apartment complex's owner but got no answers. "He was avoiding us and kept telling us not to worry, that he was restructuring his debt," she said. But the notices kept coming, and Wood's roommate moved out.

• "I've been looking for other places, and everyone wants a completely clean credit history," she said. "I went through a divorce, lost my house in a tornado and was homeless you don't go through that and keep a spotless credit history."

• Stuck, she waited for the other shoe to drop. And last week it did. She came home from work and found a notice on the door saying the water bill was past due for a total of $800. Like many apartment dwellers, Wood is not directly responsible for paying the monthly water bill, which is paid by the owner.

• If the water is turned off, city sanitation rules will prevent Wood from staying in the apartment. [...] "Tenants can set up their own account and they won't be responsible for the unpaid balance," [superintendent with Visalia's water provider Mike Markarian] said. But there's a catch. Woods lives in a triplex and would be responsible for the entire property and other tenants' bills if she were to set up such an account. "It would be about $200 a month," she said. "I don't have that kind of money." The Times-Delta attempted to contact Wood's landlord, Habes Alrawashdeh, but phone calls were not returned [...].(1)

For the story, see Foreclosure fallout: Visalia tenant unaware of landlord's financial status (Visalia woman, 4-year-old son may lose use of water).

(1) I suspect that the recently enacted Federal law, known as the Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act of 2009 and which gives tenants some protection against being immediately booted from their rented homes in foreclosure eviction situations, may not apply when the tenant displacement is a result of a local municipality applying its ordinances relating to the health and sanitation issues that arise when water service to a home/apartment building is shut off, even though the premises is in foreclosure. RentSigmaSkimming