Real Estate Agent Accused Of Sleazy Practice In Alleged Attempt To Illegally Force Renter Out Of Foreclosed New Jersey Home

In Wildwood, New Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

• On Memorial Day weekend, a man knocked on the door of Sheila Walker's Wildwood apartment and presented her with an offer: $1,500 to vacate in three weeks. The three-unit building had been seized in foreclosure. According to Walker, 45, neither the man nor the real estate office he represented ever told her that New Jersey law gave her the right to stay put.(1) She panicked, she said. How would she find an affordable place at the start of the busy summer season?

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• "She was just beside herself," said Donna Jago, director of citizen relations [for New Jersey's Department of the Public Advocate], who first spoke with Walker in July. "She didn't know where to turn, and she was dealing with a Realtor that was giving her misinformation."

• Walker said that the office of Jean Ball, a RE/MAX agent in Northfield, told Walker to stop paying her $750 rent as part of the cash-for-keys deal. In August, Walker was served an eviction notice for failure to pay rent. She said she felt duped. Ball would not comment for this story. Her online profile says she specializes in bank-owned properties in South Jersey. [...] Because Walker had receipts showing that she had paid her rent on time, Jago said her office was able to get the eviction dismissed.

• Jago said Walker's case was not unusual. She has helped others who faced unlawful evictions. "Some of these Realtors, I think they know exactly what they're doing," Jago said. "Some of them don't."

For the story, see New rules seek to protect tenants.

(1) New Jersey's laws are stricter than those in most states. They forbid the eviction of tenants - with or without a lease - from foreclosed buildings without cause, such as failure to pay rent or occupancy by a new owner, the story states. See also: Foreclosure Eviction Of Residential Tenants "Almost Always Illegal In New Jersey," Says State Public Advocate.