Upcoming Foreclosures

How do we find out if we have a faulty lease due to foreclosure?

We entered a lease for a rental home. Upon signing the lease and paying the deposit and first months' rent, we went to have the utilites turned on. The cable is a community wide cable run through a homeowners association. The cable company said the account was frozed so we called the homeowners association who informed us the home was in foreclosure and scheduled for bank sale later that month. So we did some digging and found that it was indeed in foreclosure and scheduled for a bank sale but the bank sale was cancelled by the bank. So we called the property management of the house and the owner who said "oh, yea we are in foreclosure but are doing a loan modification. They also said they would come current on their homeowners dues so the cable could be turned on." We are really nervous now, we don't know if we can get out of our lease, we don't understand who actually even owns the home since it appears from the court documents that there was a final judgement of foreclosure but no bank sale. Any advice would be appreciated. Does our landlord own the home or the bank? What are our rights? Can he rent the house to us without cable hookup due to his non-payment of the homeowners association dues?

Public Comments

1. Your lease is illegal, as when you signed it - the homeowner was in default with both the mortgage bank and the HOA - Get away as soon as possible. You'll have to sue the bankrupt homeowner for the money he took as it was illegal for him to rent you a home in default. I'm sure you know now that he didn't use your funds to make good on any payments due on the home or HOA. That's diversion - take him to small claims and find another rental quick.
2. If the bank sale was cancelled by the bank, they are still trying to work with the borrower, so the owner still owns the house. Renting it under duress is pretty lousy though. I don't understand why you cannot get cable, and unless cable was a term of your lease, yes, he can rent it. Get a dish. If the bank takes it, you get 90 days rent free to find a new place.