New Report Addresses Lack Of Enforcement Of Federal Law Protecting Tenants Against Illegal Foreclosure Evictions

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty recently announced:

• Despite a federal law enacted in 2009(1) to protect renters living in foreclosed properties, many tenants across the country are still being threatened with eviction and are being forced to leave their homes on short notice. A report released [] by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties, explains the impact of the new law and discusses problems with its implementation, and summarizes the results of a 50-state survey of developments in state laws protecting tenants living in foreclosed properties since early 2009.

• The report reveals that while progress has been made at both the federal and state levels to protect the rights of renters living in properties subject to foreclosure, further protections for renters - and better enforcement of existing protections - are needed.

For the entire announcement, see Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties.

(1) In May 2009, the federal government enacted the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 ("PTFA"), which provides important federal protections for tenants in foreclosed properties, including the right to receive 90 days' notice before being required to leave the property and, in many cases, the right to remain for the length of the tenant's existing lease term. Unless the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is extended, it will expire on December 31, 2012.