Disadvantages of Renting a Repossessed House

When you rent a house that is being foreclosed upon, you take it with the understanding you may be evicted at some point in the not-too-distant future through no fault of your own. If you rent a house that was repossessed but is under new ownership, you are renting a home like any other -- with no special disadvantage. The key to renting a foreclosed home is knowing where the property is in the process, your options and your rights.

Uncertainty

In many states, a tenant can be unaware a home is being foreclosed upon until he receives an eviction notice. Most states do not require the foreclosing lender or landlord to provide notice to the tenant at any stage of the process. If you do find out or suspect a foreclosure is underway, you may wonder what will happen next and when it will happen. Will you have to move? Will you have enough notice to find a new place? Uncertainty can be a big disadvantage of renting a home in foreclosure if it causes you anxiety.

Eviction

While not every foreclosing lender evicts rental tenants at the end of a foreclosure, many do. Some of the nation's largest lenders routinely send out eviction notices after they take title to properties, according to a 2008 article in the "The New York Times." If you rented your home because it allows your child to attend the best school in the city, because it is next door to your parents or it is close to your job, eviction is a distinct disadvantage to renting a foreclosed home. Especially if you have not lived in the house long, you will not only have to leave, you also will incur the costs of moving not long after your last move.

Security Deposit

Your landlord has your security deposit. If he defaulted on his mortgage, he might not be inclined or able to pay you back. Only a few places have laws to protect security deposits in a foreclosure. In Minnesota, for instance, once you find out a property is in foreclosure you have the right to apply it to rent. In other places, you are at the landlord's mercy.

Maintenance

If your landlord can't afford to pay the mortgage and knows he is going to lose the building, there's a good chance he won't spend money on upgrades and maintenance to the property. If a foreclosure took 90 days from start to finish, this wouldn't be too much of a problem. But foreclosures were averaging more than 500 days as of early 2011, according to lender servicing firm LPS. That's a long time to go without necessary repairs. You can call the local building or housing department for help, but their chief leverage is usually in threatening a fine and lien, which your landlord will know he will be handing off to the lender in foreclosure.

References

• National Housing Law Project: State and Local Tenant Protections
• "The Wall Street Journal"; What Your Landlord Isn't Telling You; Kelli Grant; November 2010
• "The New York Times"; Fannie Mae Lets Renters Stay Despite Foreclosures; Charles Duhigg; December 2008
• Huffington Post; Housing Nightmare - Tenants In Defaulted Buildings Have No One to Turn To; Samantha Gross; April 2010
• LPS Mortgage Monitor: February 2011 Mortgage Performance Observations