I am one of three renters in Cook County, Illinois, and with a real jerk of a landlord who actually had me sign in November 2008 a two year lease - two months AFTER he was in court proceedings for the foreclosure of the property, which National City Bank is the plaintiff. He recently moved a women into the building the first of April, and never disclosing the foreclosure. Which incidentally, a default judgment was ordered on March 4, 2009. In this state, there is a 60 day redemption period provided to the mortgagee/landlord. The Sheriff’s Sale was scheduled for this past Monday June 8th. However, when called, we discovered that the bank requested a 60 day postponement of the sale/auction, for reasons unknown to me. We did not pay our rent this month, and last night the landlord, who has always been elusive, arrived at our doors to deliver five day notices, demanding June rent and stating that "he is still the legal owner and that he will evict us, if we do not pay the rent. It is not that we do not want to pay our rent - it is just a hard pill to swallow when he has been so deceptive and has not paid the mortgage in almost a year. We have our rent checks made out, but would rather find a way to pay National City Bank and can not understand why they have not demanded an “assignment of rent,” given the circumstances and knowing fully that we have gone on record, via certified mailings, as being renters at the property. Could someone please help us out - thank you!
I’m confused - why wouldn’t you continue to pay rent?
Just because your landlord has defaulted on his contract with the lender, doesn’t mean you can now default on your contract with the landlord. You are still getting the service that was contracted for, so it must continue to be paid for, right? If the landlord spends the money on hookers and blow, so what? Unless the lease has a specific provision that the landlord will stay current on the mortgage, how he spends the money is none of your business.
I know it sucks if you get kicked out because your landlord was an idiot, but that doesn’t somehow give you a moral pass on breaking the contract.
By way of advice - open one of the registered letters and get the Cause Number off of the pleading. Then go to your county Clerk’s office and ask to see the file. From that, you can get the name of the Plaintiff, it’s lawyers name and telephone number, and the status of the proceedings, including any date set for Sheriff’s Sale. Then you can contact the lawyer for the bank to get advice.
The bank’s attorney may not want to give any advice to you, and I’d be wary of what you are told. You are a party to a contract, and breaking the contract, either by sending the rent to the bank or not paying it at all, can cause a pretty major ding in your credit.
It sucks, but at this point, if you are in possession and the rent is due, then pay up. I would only consider skipping rent if the foreclosure sale would cut off the landlord’s eviction rights before an eviction could occur, in which case, the landlord probably wouldn’t even bother filing an action in the first place.
If you are month-to-month, it sounds like you have plenty of time to find another place, if needed. The sale is apparently in early August and it looks like you have 90 days after being given notice to vacate by the new owner, based upon that new federal law. It sounds like you may have until November to relocate, and they might even offer you cash for keys.
If you are in a lease, it looks like the lease survives foreclosure under the new federal law, and you may be able to ride out the remainder of the lease.
Check with an attorney in your area, do not rely on me.
At least here in CA, the “3 day notice” or any other such notice does not show up on any Credit Report. An Unlawful Detainer does, but that costs $$ and can only be started after Notice.
In the past, it used to be that foreclosure = eviction, but no longer. Many banks etc will happily now accept rent.
I would agree with this - you should pay for the services you are receiving.
That said, I don’t see anything unethical about delaying payment, given the uncertainty of the situation: it is quite common to have your security deposit stolen under these circumstances, and it is not unreasonable to take precautions against this, especially given the elusiveness of the landlord.
(That is my ethical take on the situation, not a legal take. The law may require different actions from you as well as different mechanisms to ensure that your actions are not interpreted as an attempt to pay no rent.)
Well, the Landlord may no longer legally own the property and ifso the OP doesn’t owe him anything, legally or morally.
Next, opening someone elses mail is a federal crime.