How Foreclosure Affects Renters
An estimated 40 percent of households facing eviction due to foreclosure are renters, not homeowners. Many renters have been evicted from their homes with little or no notice - sometimes with no idea that a foreclosure was pending - after their landlords were unable to pay their mortgages.
But renters gained some protection against foreclosure under the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which was signed and took effect in May 2009. The new law requires the new owners of a property to allow tenants to remain in the home, as long as the tenants pay their rent on time. Renters will be able to stay until the end of their lease, or will get at least 90 days notice if they do not have a lease or if the new owner intends to reside in the home.
Some states have stronger laws that give additional protections to renters under foreclosure.
More Information
- New Foreclosure Protection for Renters - 5/27/09
- Foreclosures, Recession Hit Renters Hard - 3/13/09
Resources for Renters
- Foreclosure and Eviction Practices by State (pdf) - National Low Income Housing Coalition - Summer 2008
- What Renters Can Do When Facing Foreclosure - AARP - 10/31/08
In the News
- Foreclosure Crisis Hits Poor Renters Hard: Evicted Families Have to Fight to Live Together - Alternet - 5/26/09
- Foreclosure's Unseen Victims: Tenants Suffer When Landlords Don't Pay - The Scranton Times Tribune - 5/24/09
- Foreclosure Crisis Creates Unique Hardships For Renters - WPIX-TV - December 2008
Reports
- Without Just Cause: A 50-State Review of the (Lack of) Rights of Tenants in Foreclosure (pdf) - The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Low Income Housing Coalition - February 2009
- Renters in Foreclosure: Defining the Problem, Identifying Solutions (pdf) - National Low Income Housing Coalition - January 2009
- Foreclosure to Homelessness: The Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis - National Coalition for the Homeless - April 2008
