I am a renter and participant in the Section 8 voucher Program. Yesterday I found out that the owners have not been paying the mortgage and that the property I live in will be sold at our local court house on August 8th. That does not leave me a whole lot of time to try and figure out what my rights are, will I get my security deposit back, how long will I have to move-out or why I wasn't informed of this a whole lot sooner. I notified my Section 8 Housing Counselor yesterday but she needs time to figure out what is going on. When I contacted the Manager she tells me, "Don't worry, I'm going to buy the property." Something she has been telling me for 2 years now. When I contacted the debt collection agency, the mortgage company hired, I asked them why I was not given a copy of the Notice of Forclosure and asked where exactly in the process of forclosure the owner is. I was told that the notice did go out but they did not contain my name or even state current resident. Yes, I remember receiving these letters in my mail box months ago but they had the owners name on them and when I let the manager know I had them (I believed them to be important bank information for the owners) she told me to give them to her and or throw them away. Her exact words, "Oh, those aren't important." The collection agency also let me know that this process has been going on since March and that the owners were responsible to notify me, not them and that the place will be sold at auction on August 8th. I have repeatedly phoned the Manager and left several messages but she has not returned my calls. I do not know how to contact the owner's. The whole situation is foul and there does not seem to be any legal aid help in my area. I spent the night searching the web for information and what I've found are blogs-o-plenty of tenants with similar stories. Many (who despite the new law on renters having 90-days to relocate once the new owners take over) were out in a month or less, were not returned their security deposits, did not recieve moving assistance or a "Cash for Keys" deal and simply were thrown out into a competative housing market with no guarantees the next owner will be honest and disclose any mortgage issues. A move will be devastating to me and my daughter. We are low-income, we live on a tight budget and are able to get by modestly. I am a full time college student with a disability (not on Social Security), my 19 year old daughter is a full time college student and she works a full-time job, we are desperately working on improving our situation since we were blessed enough to get Section 8, which we view as a temporary opportunity; not a permanent way of life. We pay our rent and bills on time, we have two cats and a dog we rescued and because of low cost veterinary care in my city we are able to obtain health care for them (shots, check-ups); these are not pets; they are family to us. I'm worried that I won't be able to find a rental that allows pets and it will crush me when and if I have to surrender them to the Humane Society. Two are not adoptable, the dog has been physically abused and has behavior issues and one of the cats was born deformed. I'm worried that me and my daughter will have to drop out of Fall session because we are homeless. I'm scared that we will not be given enough time to relocate or will not have enough money and that we will have a great deal of difficulty finding a rental that even accepts Section 8, it is so hard to find them and the competition is very fierce for these rentals. Perhaps the cruelest part of all of this is that while writing this story the manager phones me to tell me that, "The owners are negotiating with the bank to keep the property but they have to prove they can afford to make the payments," and that, "...we should know something by the first week of August." The manager does not realize I know the property will be sold on August 7th.
