As foreclosures continue to mount across the Nation, many renters have found themselves being evicted from their homes without much notice, through no fault of their own.  In most situations renters sign their lease agreements (after a typical credit check, which they pay for), make their payments each month, and go on about their lives with a roof over their heads.

It’s been almost a year ago now, a knock came on my door, and an acquaintance of mine asked me if I would please take her dog, as the home she was renting was foreclosed on, and she had no place for her pet!  Even though she was making her monthly rental payments, her landlord had stopped making the mortgage payments, and cut off all communication with the tenant.  It was a very sad moment.  I humbly took the dog.

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The foreclosed rental property has been a growing trend, another by-product of the declining housing market and economy.  Most renters are left with little time to react, typically lose their deposits, and are left scrambling to find a new place to call home (and those deposits they lost). 

Unfortunately there is very little recourse for a renter in this situation, especially here in Arizona.  Renters do have a right to sue, but more than likely, in the long run would lose more in the effort.  So what is a renter to do?  Especially right now, it does seem like a game of chance when it comes to renting.  You’re probably not going to get your new prospective landlord to agree to you checking his or her credit, so a little extra work up front may save some headache in the (possibly near) future.

1. Find out when the home was last sold.  If you’re using a Realtor to find your next rental home, that should be easy enough.  If you look for homes that have been recently sold, at or near current prices, then your new landlord could be positioned to make those mortgage payments.
2. Ask to see the last 3 months mortgage statements.  If your prospective landlord agrees, you should be able to see what state that particular mortgage is in.
3. Ask that all deposits be held with a 3rd party (such as a title company), until the lease agreement is over. That way, your deposits will have a greater chance of not disappearing if things go wrong.

Executing step 1 could save you a lot of effort, and grief, and is a fairly simple task.  Steps 2 and 3 might be difficult to accomplish, but if you can get the landlord to agree to one of the two, it could go a long way toward your peace of mind when it’s time to sign the lease agreement.