webLOGfor.US

     If you peruse the blog you know that from time to time I jump on to Yahoo! Answers to pass around some knowledge.  I’ll say that most of what gets posted there is a load of junk.  It’s a shame because for some people who don’t know how to use the Internet or search engines real well it is their only place online to find answers.

     I once got into a heated discussion with someone on the site who gave bad information.  This woman was touting herself as a real estate expert and was giving landlord/tenant advice in absolutes with no knowledge of the area of the questioner.  Personally I think everyone who gets into landlording or real estate investment learns early on that all real estate is locally driven.  This is true in prices and this is true in landlord/tenant law.  The only absolutes you can quote about landlord tenant law are federally mandated items such as the equal housing laws, lead paint disclosures, etc.  Items such as what rights a tenant has if the landlord goes into foreclosure are all locally driven at the state and municipal level.  You cannot speak in absolutes on this unless you know the location.

     OK, off my rant about the ignorant posting as experts.  There have been a lot of questions lately about what rights a tenant has when a landlord goes into foreclosure.  A lot of the questions have to do with can the tenant stop paying rent.  My general answer is that the tenant can do whatever they want.  It’s a free country.  What can they do legally is a whole different ball game.  In most jurisdictions the legal answer is that you must continue to pay rent.  You have a legal binding contract.  You never know what the outcome of a foreclosure filing is going to be.  There are three possible situations in this:

1. Property has a short sale completed.   
   • In this scenario a lack pf payment by the tenant could cause an eviction.  If the new owner is an investor they may not want a tenant who stops paying, for any reason.
2. Landlord makes arrangement with the bank to keep the property.     
   • Again, an eviction is likely here.  The landlord isn’t going to want you in the property when you stopped paying rent.
3. Bank takes the property back.     
   • Your lease used to be voided but the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 changed all that.  Some states have stricter laws than what the federally mandated minimums require.  There is a PDF at the end of this post listing each states laws.  If the state has stricter laws than the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 then they stay in effect.   

     One sure fire thing is that if a tenant does get an eviction on their record other landlords will treat then as a pariah.  No one will want to rent to them anymore.  Play it safe and know your rights. 

     I found a listing of tenant rights by state.  Check it out, it has a lot of good information on your rights if you are a tenant facing foreclosure.   Tenant Rights in Foreclosure

     I’ll be posting on the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 and my views on it shortly.

    While getting the house ready to rent out there was one job I have been dreading for a long time. the brick and flagstone steps out front were cracked in a few spots and starting to lean forward. They were still structurally sound (no movement) but would be falling apart in a year or two with the winters and rain we have here in Philadelphia.

    Thus began the project of removing the top two flagstone steps, pulling off what bricks could be pulled out, and chiseling out the ones that were cracked in half.

    The process wasn't too bad. I had mt brother-in-law to help. Neither of us have done something on this scale before but he has at least done some brick work. We chiseled off the mortar from the bricks we could reuse and the flagstone. We then went through the process of rebuilding the second step. We added new bricks, spaced them out, mortared and leveled them in place. Unfortunately we couldn't find bricks that were a match to the one's we removed.

     Murphy's Law kicked in and it started to sprinkle a bit just as we finished all the bricks. We still had the flagstone top to put on and decided to go for it. I was mixing mortar like a madman as he dumped it and smoothed it out on the steps. We got the flagstone set and leveled out just as it started to move from a sprinkle to a drizzle. We quickly tarped it off and cleaned up.

Success!

    The top step only needs to have the flagstone mortared in place and then there are some spots where we need to point and fill in some small cracks that have started to form. That is slated to be done this weekend. Once everything is set and dried I will post some pictures of everything.

web log for us – those that have the gusto to dive in and get the job done right.