More governments coming to evicted renters' rescue
— -- Governments from California to Ohio are beginning to pass new laws to protect a quiet victim of the nationwide economic slide: renters getting blindsided by foreclosures against their landlords.
The issue made international news this month when a Chicago sheriff temporarily halted all evictions in Cook County to draw attention to the problem.
Governments have been taking notice and are starting to pass and consider laws to protect renters who have no idea their landlords have defaulted on their mortgages until they receive an eviction notice.
"These are the folks who are innocent victims," said Ohio state Rep. Mike Foley, a Cleveland Democrat who is co-sponsoring a bill to help renters. "They're the ones who are paying their rent and the first they hear about the foreclosure is when the sheriff is at the door."
Foreclosures remain a problem around the country.
According to RealtyTrac, a real estate database website, there were 53% more foreclosures in the first eight months of the year than there were over the same period in 2007. At least 589,190 properties were in some stage of foreclosure proceedings as of last week. Of those, about 31% — or 181,569 — were not occupied by the owner, indicating that they are investment properties or rentals.
When Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart halted all evictions this month, he said banks were foreclosing on property owners and obtaining eviction orders for the owners. However, when deputies showed up, they found that renters were living there instead.
Dart resumed evictions last week after meeting with judges to ensure that renters are given the 120-day grace period before moving required under state law.
Others are taking action:
The California Legislature passed a law this summer giving renters 60 days' notice prior to being evicted from their foreclosed property.
In Chicago, an ordinance will go into effect Nov. 5 that requires all tenants to be informed within seven days of the beginning of foreclosure proceedings — a process that can take months and gives renters time to look for a new place.
