L/O NIGHTMARE! Need Advise!! - Posted by Kristy

Posted by Kristy on July 13, 2002 at 15:44:57:

The thing is I KNOW where the Landlord lives and so does my friend. He’s not far, and was stupid enough to have his address in Public Records. One other thing that I did not mention, was the original owners had been foreclosed on before on another house in 1997 and somehow got a loan in 1999 to buy another house. Then sold that one and bought this house. Seems strange that someone would give these people a loan after being foreclosed only 2 years prior! Plus their interest rate was not sub-prime! This all really stinks!

L/O NIGHTMARE! Need Advise!! - Posted by Kristy

Posted by Kristy on July 13, 2002 at 02:13:36:

Ok, a friend of ours answered an ad that said “No Qualifying only $1,000 Down” He was shown a house, he put up the $1,000 plus $900 for first months rent. It was understood he had the option to purchase this house at any time. This all took place on June 19th 2002. On July 1st, he received an eviction notice. He has done nothing wrong and his rent isn’t due till July 19th 2002. He did some searching and fond that the guy he rented from was not the owner of record. (guess that’s not a big deal BUT…)My friend called me and I found that the property was scheduled to go to foreclosure auction on July 8th 2002. When I called the Trustee the sale had been postponed till July 15th 2002.

I did a deeper search and found that this “Landlord” had filed notice of liens on properties( usually in the amount of $25K) just days before they were scheduled to go to auction. Plus he had hem notorized in a different county than where the propertie were located.

Upon moving into the house, our friend noticed that one of the windows had been drilled out to gain access to the property. Our feelings on this are that the guy knew it was vacant and going to auction, gained access to the property and had the locks changed, then rented it out to our friends, collected the cash and will let the bank throw my friends out after the sale.

I feel the bank will get the property back, since there is no equity in it. The original owners just bought it new a year ago. there is some very shady stuff about this Landlord.

Any seasoned investors or anyone with legal experience know what our friend can do? I told him he has approximately 3 to 4 weeks after the auction before he has to get out. Told him he should wait to see who purchases the property and if it postponed again, call the bank and find out why. Basically to see if the Landlord is trying to bring the payments current.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. sorry this is so long.

Re: L/O NIGHTMARE! Need Advise!! - Posted by JoeKaiser

Posted by JoeKaiser on July 13, 2002 at 12:45:00:

It sounds like he’s been defrauded by a conman who’s renting out homes where he shouldn’t. It’s not uncommon.

We had a fellow doing just that a few years back. I knocked on the door of a happy tenant of his once who’d just moved in and was busy repainting the entire inside of the house. She’d just about finished by the time I told her the house was scheduled to be sold at auction only a day or two later.

He took her for first, last, deposit, and a piece of her soul, and I would have decked him given the chance. Eventually, they put him away for six or eight years.

Joe

Re: L/O NIGHTMARE! Need Advise!! - Posted by JT-IN

Posted by JT-IN on July 13, 2002 at 11:21:25:

K:

If I were the individual who has been “defrauded” here, I would take copies of all my documents and personally visit the Prosecutors Office. What has been perported here is a “Crime”, which amounts to Grand Theft! It is a Felony, and the Prosecutor should handle it as such. However, this may take some strong-arming of the Prosecutor to get them to act, as they may attempt to pass this off as a “Civil Matter”. If this occurs, and it were me I would come “unglued” ont he Prosecutors Offcie, and make certain that they know that I planed to make lots of noise about this. You see, the Prosecutor is a Politcal office and they do react to anything that may create a negative circumstance for them.

Secondly, I would put the Bank/Lender on notice that I have an interest in the property. Again, some grandstanding may be in order to get their attention, and even this may not work. They are not at fault and not obligated to entertain any input from this party, but good business practices amy dictate it.

Time is of value here, so I would get on this pronto, and stay on it until satisfaction is realized.

Just the way that I view things…

JT-IN

my 2 cents - Posted by Donald

Posted by Donald on July 13, 2002 at 05:26:45:

Kristy

I would contact the landlord, sheriff, the Trustee, small claims court folks and a lawyer.
Tell them all–“I just want my $1,900 back”!
my 2 cents
Donald

Re: L/O NIGHTMARE! Need moving truck. - Posted by Matt (MPD) IL

Posted by Matt (MPD) IL on July 13, 2002 at 04:49:47:

Kristy,
Here in IL once this house went to auction with as little equity in it as you say, the lender would be the one who would end up with it. Eventually either HUD or another lender would then sell it through a broad listing broker but not before they had sent the sheriff out there to evict anyone on the premises. The property would be secured by a preservation company, locked up and utilities cut. Then the city would condemn the property unfit for human habitation.

Sounds like your friend has maybe a few weeks as you say to find a good place to live and a lawyer. I doubt he’ll find this “landlord” and even if he does it sounds like the list of creditors standing in line already will make your friend’s deposit and rent money pale by comparison.

I suppose, as you mention in your post that there is a chance that either this “landlord” or some other investor will stop the foreclosure sale and your friend can negotiate a new lease with them but the odds of that happening with such small equity seem slim at best. Sounds like this “landlord” knew he was losing it (or knew someone else was losing it) and decided to make a couple of bucks before the sheriff came and locked up shop. We’ve seen/heard of this horror story here before and the only thing I can say is the friend needs to find a place to live and a moving van quick.

Matt Yohnk
MPD Investments Inc.
myohnk@mpd-investments.com

Re: L/O NIGHTMARE! Need Advise!! - Posted by waynepdx

Posted by waynepdx on July 13, 2002 at 20:52:47:

Sounds like a good tenant that you would want.

Did you work out some kind of deal with her to stay in the property?