Tyler Richardson was going to move anyway. He just didn't think it could be so soon.
But when a note showed up on his front door two weeks ago, saying the Redding house he rented had been foreclosed and the bank was about to take it back, Richardson was left pondering a potential move.
Richardson, 27, splits the $1,200 monthly rent with three others, who've lived in the home, near Cypress and Hartnell avenues, for about a year.
In May, they were told by the property management firm that the owner was trying to sell, so Richardson wasn't too surprised.
"It was interesting how quickly the foreclosure happened," said Richardson, a night chaplain at the Good News Rescue Mission who in February will take a job in Sacramento. ". . . I have never understood the housing process, so I wasn't sure how long it would take to foreclose on a house."
Indeed, homeowners aren't the only people being displaced by foreclosure.
When a bank takes back a foreclosed rental - especially a home - its intent is to sell the property. Typically, that means the renters must find a new home.
"Banks don't rent them out," said Walt Swift, who co-owns Swift Properties in Redding.
Melinda Brown, owner/broker of Real Property Management in Redding, recently took over a bank-owned four-plex in Shasta Lake. Brown assumed the bank had evicted the renters because the building was empty when she made an offer.
Brown said she purchased the complex for about "50 cents on the dollar."
"There's a great opportunity but it needed quite a bit of work," Brown said.
Depending on the property management firm, vacancy rates in Shasta County are running between 6 percent and 10 percent.
"Our units are all renting pretty quickly," Brown said.
Fortunately for Richardson, he's not too worried about finding a new place to rent, should he have to move.
"They (property management firm) have a couple other rentals that they would help us move into if the bank sells," Richardson said.
RealtyTrac reported there were 91 bank-owned homes in Shasta County in August, a 23 percent increase from July, and 1,200 percent spike from August 2007, when there were seven.
Meanwhile, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University reported this year that more foreclosures will mean more renters.
Rental households in the United States averaged 0.7 percent annual growth from 2003 to 2006. But the number of renter households jumped by 2.8 percent - about 1 million more - in 2007, the Harvard study revealed.
Swift said foreclosures add to the number of available units and the number of renters.
And it's not just distressed properties. Owners who can't sell in this depressed market often try to rent out their property.
"Every week we get about a dozen calls from owners who can't sell so they have to rent," Swift said. "As I tell a lot of owners, there's certainly a large inventory."
Desperate, some owners will post a "For Sale" and a "For Rent" sign on their houses.
"So whatever happens first they will do," said Shari Rutledge, who manages Sun Country Property Management in Redding.
But Rutledge says she won't manage a home that the owner also wants to sell.
"Suddenly if you get an offer to sell, you sell the house right from underneath the tenant," Rutledge said.
Rutledge said a lot of investors bought at the peak of the real estate market, so the rent they need to recoup their investment might not be realistic.
"It's hard to keep those rented," Rutledge said.
And if they sit empty with no income coming in, it's a good bet those properties are headed for foreclosure.
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