California Tenant Advocacy Group In Forefront In Fight Against Banks, Real Estate Agents Attempting To Illegally Oust Tenants From Foreclosed Homes

In Sacramento, California, NewsBlaze reports:

• Backed by Tenants Together, California's statewide tenant rights organization, tenants in Sacramento have fought off local realtors and a bank that tried to illegally trick them into moving out of their home after it was foreclosed. Golden 1 Credit Union, through its local realtors at the Bishop Real Estate Group, attempted to drive out tenants after foreclosure in blatant violation of a new federal law. In a letter [...], Tenants Together is demanding that The Bishop Real Estate Group and Golden 1 Credit Union take immediate steps to comply with the law and stop evicting innocent tenants after foreclosure.

• Mr. and Mrs. Caesar are tenants who have a two-year lease to continue renting their home through September 2010. Golden 1 Credit Union, the lender, took over the property on October 2, 2009. Golden 1 Credit Union quickly dispatched local realtors at The Bishop Real Estate Group to carry out the bank's dirty work - throwing innocent tenants out of their homes after foreclosure. On October 7, 2009, Kendra Bishop of The Bishop Real Estate Group told Mrs. Caesar that she and her husband had to move. Ms. Bishop also handed Mrs. Caesar a threatening letter, informing her that Golden 1 Credit Union had "started eviction proceedings" and urging Mrs. Caesar to accept a "relocation offer" that would expire in 3 days. [...] As soon as the foreclosure occurred, Mrs. Caesar called Tenants Together and learned that, pursuant to the Protecting Tenants to Foreclosure Act,(1) her lease survived foreclosure and that she was entitled to continue renting her home until the lease expires on August 31, 2010.(2)

For more, see Sacramento Tenant Fights Off Realtor & Bank Trying to Illegally Evict Her Family.

(1) This federal foreclosure law was passed this spring and requires (with one exception not applicable here) property owners who come into land through foreclosure to honor all existing leases, and to provide a minimum of a 90-day window for any month-to-month tenants. See Section 702(a)(2) of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009.

(2) "This behavior is outrageous," commented Gabe Treves of Tenants Together, "The Caesars have every right to stay in their home, yet the realtors and the bank came storming in and demanded that they vacate. Banks and realtors routinely act in blatant violation of the law. That is why we are demanding that they change their policy, commit to following the law, and stop harassing tenants." RentSigmaSkimming