Convicted Ex-Car Mogul's Girlfriend Using Foreclosure Eviction Protection Law In Attempt To "Dodge The Boot" From $1.8M Home 'Rented' From Boyfriend?

In Medina, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:

• As disgraced businessman Denny Hecker sat in federal custody awaiting sentencing,(1) his girlfriend, Christi Rowan, fought eviction Thursday from the $1.8 million Medina home the two shared with her children. Palladium Holdings LLC claims that Rowan's lease deal with Hecker on the property is a sham.

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• [Rowan's attorney] also said Rowan is entitled to a 90-day eviction notice under her lease. [Housing Court referee Mark] Labine said, "It has to be a bona fide lease."(2)

For the story, see Hecker's girlfriend fighting eviction from Medina home (Christi Rowan claims she has a valid lease on the house; a holding company wants her out).

(1) Until he filed for bankruptcy in June 2009, listing $767 million in debt, Hecker ran an ubiquitous auto empire, the story states. Reportedly, he is now in the Sherburne County jail, facing up to 10 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy and Rowan pleaded guilty earlier this year to bank and bankruptcy fraud.

(2) The Federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 provides important federal protections for tenants in foreclosed properties, including the right to receive 90 days' notice before being required to leave the property, but applies only to bona fide tenants under any bona fide lease entered into before the notice of foreclosure. With regard to its applicability, the law make no distinction between expensive, luxury mansions and lower-cost 'non-mansions' that have been foreclosed upon.