We are just another four more people that are renters facing foreclosure. The owner has two (possibly three)notices of default@the Sacramento County Recorder's Office posted 8/5/08. The owner has made poor decisions resulting in short-falls, two pending foreclosures. He wasn't collecting rent from tenants with hard-luck histories, empathizing himself into a hard-luck situation of his own. He procrastinated many months before resorting to legal action to evict dead-beat tenants. One tenant stayed at a downtown residence for nearly two years, not paying rent. The tenant promised he would reimburse the landlord as soon as he received his Social Security (retroactive) payment of $17K. I asked the landlord, "how much does he owe you?" He told me $10k-$11k. I commented that he wouldn't pay you $10k or $11k if he gets $17k. Well,he paid the landlord $2500 and he's (to my knowledge) still living there. Each of his income properties are "roomie" tenancies at each of his houses. If he collected rent and a fair share of the utilities each month, from all of his tenants, he wouldn't be facing foreclosures, and we as paying tenants wouldn't be having to scramble to find another place to live. Oh, then he would, "rob Peter to pay Paul".He would take the money from the good paying tenants (myself and my girlfriend) to help cover the shortages of the non-paying tenants at the other properties. He offered sweet-heart deals to tenants if he thought asking for higher rent and having pay a share of utilities would drive them away. He wouldn't screen any of the tenants. I've lived here for three and a half years. I've seen it all with the questionable tenants I had to live with. He's lived here sleeping on the living room couch for seven or eight months, it wasn't a pretty site. Now, with what time he has left, he calls to give us one to three hour notice that he's bringing people over as possible homebuyers. He wants us to have the place looking like "Better Homes and Gardens" with only hours to prepare. I've paid rent and my share of utilities, on time, for three and a half years. What recourse is there? When we do find another place to live, he won't be supportive as a reference and he created these problems himself. Until a week ago, the landlord was actually trying to rent rooms to new tenants. I was forced to pay $265.00, half of a electric bill to keep the lights on. Now, I alone am faced with another month of utilities to be paid or its lights out and there's a deadbeat renter still living here, not paying rent or a share of utilities. My girlfriend and I have get out. There's more to enclose. This is only an opener of the events. We are looking for a 3bd 2 ba house or duplex w/garage in a safe area of Sacramento Co. We are good renters.
