Fresno, CA (KFSN) --
Hundreds of Valley families are paying their rent on time, and still
getting evicted. It's all due to a foreclosure crisis they say they did
nothing to create.
Bertha Aguilar is in her third residence in six months. She was evicted
from the previous two places after her landlords lost the properties to
foreclosure. She recalled how hard it was to move on such short notice,
"We had 18 days, 18 days to move." Up until December 2008, Bertha and
her family rented a Sanger home. For two and a half years Bertha says
she never missed a payment. So she never imagined anything was wrong
... until one day, "We gave her the rent on a Monday, and two days
later, three days later, we had a notice on the door. So I called her,
and she's like, "Oh no, no, no."
Her landlords--never warned her they were going into foreclosure, and
there's no law requiring them to. Bertha was upset, "So they're
collecting money until the foreclosure goes through, and you have to
move." Not only that, Bertha never received her $900 security deposit,
a common problem for renters in foreclosed properties. Action News
tried to contact her former landlord--Cesar Quintero of Sanger. But our
calls weren't returned.
Realtor Mits Matsunami had to break
the bad news, that the bank now owned the property and Bertha and her
family had to leave. Matsunami works for Mid State Realty. It's part of
his job, but that doesn't make it easy: "Here I am, and unfortunately,
they're the nicest people, very cooperative. And they didn't
necessarily need to be in this situation. We pretty much perform one
almost every other day. So it's a lot of people being displaced. " ...
while a lot of those properties sit abandoned and empty.
The renter's rights group: "Tenants Together" estimates in 2008
more than 225,000 California renters lived in properties that went
through foreclosure. In fact it also happened to Bertha's next door
neighbor in Sanger. And again to Bertha at a home in Clovis! And
earlier this month Action News reported that renters in the Tuscany
Villas in Northwest Fresno found out their condos are being foreclosed.
It's happening so often and to so many people, Central
California Legal Assistance has been flooded with calls. Housing
attorney Christina Skaf Hathaway says tenants have more rights now,
thanks to President Obama's "helping families save their homes" act.
Hathaway explains, "With this new act, it now gives them 90 days,
that's an additional 30 days, which is great. Any kind of time that you
can get to help you get back on your feet and find another apartment or
housing is gonna very much help you." And in most cases a lease offers
protection from eviction. Tenants have a right to stay through the end
of their lease. Also, any eviction notice must be in writing. And even
if banks offer "cash for keys" in exchange for moving out sooner,
remember that it's optional, there's no obligation to accept it.
Before you rent, check with your county's assessor's office for any
notice of default on the property. That's one of the first steps in the
foreclosure process and a definite red flag.
Central California Legal Services
559-570-1200
http://www.centralcallegal.org/
Tenants Together
Foreclosure Hotline for Renters: 415-495-8012
https://www.tenantstogether.org/
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