Need Advice

[ocrenter]

we moved to North County SD recently. rented a relatively new home thru a property management company. we signed a 1 year lease.

2 weeks after we moved in, we found our rental selling on ziprealty. The owner turns out to be an “investor” who purchased multiple homes within the last 6 months banking on continuing appreciation. It turns out all of the homes purchased were of the zero down 100% financing variety. Even the PM didn’t know the homes were for sale. I asked about the possibility of the owner defaulting. The PM said that hasn’t happened for… 12 years, aka, the bottom of the last bubble.

last night the lender send a guy to the doorstep asking for the owner. default is only a few steps away.

what are our options:
1. short sale. the guy owes $600,000. The home is too small to be a permanent home for us. in order for this home to make sense as a rental in the future, I’m looking at $400,000 with 10% down. not very likely in this stage of the game.
2. negotiate a deal with the owner to move. with the idea that an empty house is easier to sell than one with a tenant in there for the next year. problem is if the owner is strap for cash, I doubt he can fork over $10,000 for moving expense. plus we don’t really want to move so soon.
3. just wait it out and let things take its course. figuring it’ll take at least another 6 months for the home to get on the NOD list/NOTS/auction.
4. find and contact other renters and hire a lawyer together?

It is one thing to post and to blog about the bubble bursting. This is hitting home very close. I value your opinions.

[lendingbubblecontinues]

Wow! I am shocked by your story. While I have no answers for you, please know that I hope everything works out fine for you. Was the property management company really that inept? Are they based out of Mira Mesa by chance?

[ocrenter]

hmmm… they are known as a “person” and his friends. have you dealt with them before?

[PD]

If you are a renter living in a foreclosed house, would you have to pay the bank your rent? Would you end up living for free for months?

[Bugs]

I don’t think you have anything to lose by just hanging out. It’s a distant possibility that the process will take long enough that your lease will end before the bank takes the property back. It’s also possible that the bank would allow you to remain in the house (paying your rent to them) until your lease runs out. Having a tenant who’s paying rent virtually ensures they won’t get the house back in shell condition by the time they foreclose.

A property manager would not normally be privy to a homeowner’s solvency. I wouldn’t assume they were acting in bad faith unless you come across information to the contrary.

[yooklid]

As an aside note, I wonder which book, learning annex course, or guru seminar made someone think that buying multiple properties in a declining market with 100% financing would be a good idea?

Moreover, who lent them the money?

[PD]

Do banks manage the foreclosed rental themselves? Is the lease still in effect or do you have to renegotiate with the bank? Do they even want to deal with the hassle of a renter? Does anybody know what banks do in this situation?

[lendingbubblecontinues]

No. Sorry.

[Carlsbadliving]

I agree. I’m sure that the Property Manager was unaware of the circumstances. Their only objective would be to list and rent the place as soon as possible. I’m sure they’re not doing detailed background info on the financial status of the owner.

If I were you, I would defiently sit tight. With just a 1 year lease, I’d expect the process to take just as long, or as said before there’s a good chance the rent would just go straight to the bank.

[powayseller]

Call Steven Kellman, an attorney who specializes in tenant law. He charges $200 for an office visit. He’ll advise you on your rights, and fire off a letter if any wrongs have been done. For example, if the property management company has any liability, he’ll know about it.

If your landlord refinanced the property AFTER you signed the lease, you cannot be evicted at foreclosure. If the lease is newer, the bank can evict you when they foreclose.

I’ve seen Steven Kellman for 2 different issues. As far as I know, he’s the only attorney who takes only tenants. He also has a column in the Sunday paper, and won numerous awards for his activism. He’s also a real nice guy.

Tenants Legal Center of San Diego
5252 Balboa Ave
Suite 408
San Diego, CA 92117

office 858-571-7100
info line 858-571-1166

[powayseller]

ocrenter, how is this working out for you?

[ocrenter]

we’re just going to sit tight. NOD has not been filed. It’ll probably take another couple of months before NOD is officially filed. then we are looking at another 3 months to NOTS. by then it would be winter time.

by winter, the RE landscape in SD would be a much colder one. we’ll be looking at the placement of a short sale lowball offer at such time.

[jonze170]

Renter –
I think you and I were involved with the same homeowner/investor, and the same property manager. I moved to this area in April with no intention of buying yet. I signed a 1 year lease with a property management company (xxxxx xxxxx and friends) for a home located in the Rancho Bernardo area. The lease was to start on 6/1. During the last week in May I flew back to the east coast to help my wife get ready for the movers. 2 days after I arrived on the east coast I received a call from the property manager who informed me that an attorney for the owner of the home contacted them and advised that the house was going into foreclosure. To the credit of the property manager, they were helpful – they agreed to return my deposit, and offered to assist in finding another home. However, they mentioned that the homeowner owned 5 or 6 homes, all purchased with 100%!! financing (this has to be the same guy). I believe that they were as shocked as I was – and luckily we hadn’t moved in yet. I was able to contact our movers and delay my move for a month. Since that time, I located a different home in North County (more expensive, but nicer) on my own.
Like I said, I don’t believe the PM was aware of the situation until they were notified. I believe they contacted me on the same day the got word of the impending foreclosure(s). All that being said, I’d like to meet the idiot investor and have a few words…

Good luck with everything –

[powayseller]

Hi Jonze, I think there are thousands of idiots like the one you mention. I read a story on the housingbubbleblog, from a FL newspaper article, describing a 23 yr old woman who bought 8 homes with 100% financing, all within a couple months. It’s unbelievable that she probably qualified based on her assets. Each asset would be the equity in the previous homes. An honest appraiser would have alerted the lender to the prior deals and not inflated their values. How can you have any equity on a home 100% financed just a week ago? The investors who bought these 1st and 2nd deeds deserve to lose all that money.

The sad thing is that many of these “investors” are your parents and grandparents, who were seeking the 10% interest that is guaranteed by these deeds. Anyone reading this, please ask your fixed income friends and relatives if they purchased any fixed income investments other than CDs. If they bought deeds or mortgage backed securities, beg them to sell.

People don’t realize that higher yield means higher risk, and a fixed interest of 10% practically guarantees you’re going to lose your principal.

[ocrenter]

jonze, let’s just say you owe me one. =) yes, the PM from xxxxx xxxxx and friends didn’t know about the ales nor the impending foreclosures. However, the owner nor his attorney contacted him at all. 2 weeks after we moved in, as we search thru ziprealty, we found our rental home on sale along with 2 other in the same neighborhood for sale by the same agent. We called the PM right away and the guy mentioned you. He said there’s a renter that was moving in to one of those homes within the next two weeks and he’s going to give you a call and let you know.

powayseller is right, there are a bunch of these guys out there. that PM told me there’s actually a guy that’s negative cash flow $5000/month on his investment property. These guys you almost rented from are negative $2000/month on all 7 properties for a grand total of -$14,000/month, or -$168,000 in one year. But no worries, real estate only goes up, everyone wants to live in SD, and they are not making any more land.

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