Having already been down this road once, here is what I did differently this time and so far so good. The following things were all done online for free on public websites and I only know how to do them in Riverside county, not sure if the info is available online or in person in other counties.

1. Ran the property for NOD’s (not always effective because how late in the game nods are filed)
2. Looked at the purchase date (2003 and older)
3. Ran the owner in the grantee search for nods/nots on other properties, refi’s and cash out
4. Ran the owner in the criminal and civil court superior court website, checked for small claims, lawsuits, etc.
5. Only rented a place that had been a rental for years, not a “new” rental that the owner was moving out of, huge red flag and what happened the first time.
6. When it came time to fill out the application, I explained the previous rental repo’d for why I was moving and I just asked them if they were in a position to keep the rental for at least a year in the future and made sure the lease did not require that allow showing to buyers during the lease but would allow future renters to inspect the property during my final 30 days and of course landlord inspections that were scheduled (renting a place in the mls sucks).
7. Finally, wehn it was time to pay for the credit check, I asked if I could pay double and run their credit, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, since we were both taking a blind risk on a stranger, they agreed, but then I didn’t do it because the fact that they would was good enough for me.

Thats the best you can do or all that I could think of. Caveat Emptor

Having already been down this road once, here is what I did differently this time and so far so good. The following things were all done online for free on public websites and I only know how to do them in Riverside county, not sure if the info is available online or in person in other counties.

1. Ran the property for NOD’s (not always effective because how late in the game nods are filed)
2. Looked at the purchase date (2003 and older)
3. Ran the owner in the grantee search for nods/nots on other properties, refi’s and cash out
4. Ran the owner in the criminal and civil court superior court website, checked for small claims, lawsuits, etc.
5. Only rented a place that had been a rental for years, not a “new” rental that the owner was moving out of, huge red flag and what happened the first time.
6. When it came time to fill out the application, I explained the previous rental repo’d for why I was moving and I just asked them if they were in a position to keep the rental for at least a year in the future and made sure the lease did not require that allow showing to buyers during the lease but would allow future renters to inspect the property during my final 30 days and of course landlord inspections that were scheduled (renting a place in the mls sucks).
7. Finally, wehn it was time to pay for the credit check, I asked if I could pay double and run their credit, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, since we were both taking a blind risk on a stranger, they agreed, but then I didn’t do it because the fact that they would was good enough for me.

Thats the best you can do or all that I could think of. Caveat Emptor

Having already been down this road once, here is what I did differently this time and so far so good. The following things were all done online for free on public websites and I only know how to do them in Riverside county, not sure if the info is available online or in person in other counties.

1. Ran the property for NOD’s (not always effective because how late in the game nods are filed)
2. Looked at the purchase date (2003 and older)
3. Ran the owner in the grantee search for nods/nots on other properties, refi’s and cash out
4. Ran the owner in the criminal and civil court superior court website, checked for small claims, lawsuits, etc.
5. Only rented a place that had been a rental for years, not a “new” rental that the owner was moving out of, huge red flag and what happened the first time.
6. When it came time to fill out the application, I explained the previous rental repo’d for why I was moving and I just asked them if they were in a position to keep the rental for at least a year in the future and made sure the lease did not require that allow showing to buyers during the lease but would allow future renters to inspect the property during my final 30 days and of course landlord inspections that were scheduled (renting a place in the mls sucks).
7. Finally, wehn it was time to pay for the credit check, I asked if I could pay double and run their credit, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, since we were both taking a blind risk on a stranger, they agreed, but then I didn’t do it because the fact that they would was good enough for me.

Thats the best you can do or all that I could think of. Caveat Emptor

Did you know the foreclosure was coming? Or did you just get a knock on the door one day?

Could you add a contractual term requiring the landlord to notify you in the event of a default? and/or that a default would constitute a breach of contract allowing you out of your lease? If the landlord balks at such a request, that would be another red flag.

I just hate the fact that some landlords aren’t paying the mortgage but keep the rent payments. I wish I had taken this advice before renting, it would have saved a lot of headache now that our rental is headed toward foreclosure.

Yes, buyer (or renter 😉 beware

Did you know the foreclosure was coming? Or did you just get a knock on the door one day?

Could you add a contractual term requiring the landlord to notify you in the event of a default? and/or that a default would constitute a breach of contract allowing you out of your lease? If the landlord balks at such a request, that would be another red flag.

I just hate the fact that some landlords aren’t paying the mortgage but keep the rent payments. I wish I had taken this advice before renting, it would have saved a lot of headache now that our rental is headed toward foreclosure.

Yes, buyer (or renter 😉 beware

I leared a lot here on this site but I found out by looking at foreclosure dot com about one a week, even you don’t join they list the name of the owner and the street name on the preforeclosures but not the street numbers, unless your landlord owns more than one house on the street you can figure it out. I actually knew before, they had to tell me because they wanted to list it as a short sale and having the place shown to buyers is not required so they usually have to make some concession or reduce the rent, some renters stop paying when they find out, that is a personal decision. On the advice of some people on this site, I just told them that I would use the deposit and some repairs that they didn’t pay for as rent time, figured out when my money already given to them ran out and told them I would be leaving on that day, they broke the lease by needing to show it and by not paying the mortgage. We negotiated an additional month beyond that at a discount, the discount covered my moving expenses and utility switch so it was a wash. I could have stayed another two months because it took that long to foreclose but didn’t want to move on short notice so I was gone before there were any knocks on the door. Rents went down a tad at the time so I ended up in a nicer place for the same money. I was tempted to just buy ahead of my own schedule but I didn’t because of the people on this site and just dealt with the move which wasn’t that bad. I’m glad I waited, in just the six months since deciding, priced have declined 50-100k accross the board, so if you look at it that way, you are making 10k a month at least in falling prices, it takes the sting out of the move.

I’ve never heard of any contractual item from a landlord but in todays market it would be a good marketing strategy for them to offer it.

I leared a lot here on this site but I found out by looking at foreclosure dot com about one a week, even you don’t join they list the name of the owner and the street name on the preforeclosures but not the street numbers, unless your landlord owns more than one house on the street you can figure it out. I actually knew before, they had to tell me because they wanted to list it as a short sale and having the place shown to buyers is not required so they usually have to make some concession or reduce the rent, some renters stop paying when they find out, that is a personal decision. On the advice of some people on this site, I just told them that I would use the deposit and some repairs that they didn’t pay for as rent time, figured out when my money already given to them ran out and told them I would be leaving on that day, they broke the lease by needing to show it and by not paying the mortgage. We negotiated an additional month beyond that at a discount, the discount covered my moving expenses and utility switch so it was a wash. I could have stayed another two months because it took that long to foreclose but didn’t want to move on short notice so I was gone before there were any knocks on the door. Rents went down a tad at the time so I ended up in a nicer place for the same money. I was tempted to just buy ahead of my own schedule but I didn’t because of the people on this site and just dealt with the move which wasn’t that bad. I’m glad I waited, in just the six months since deciding, priced have declined 50-100k accross the board, so if you look at it that way, you are making 10k a month at least in falling prices, it takes the sting out of the move.

I’ve never heard of any contractual item from a landlord but in todays market it would be a good marketing strategy for them to offer it.