Expert: Dick Dennis - 11/7/2008

Question
I had been renting a property in Orlando Florida.   I was paying the rent on time every month.  My landlord stopped paying his mortgage and the court served us the foreclossure documents (because we are the ones at the property) 24 days ago and giving the landlord 20 days to answer if he was going to keep the house or not.  The landlord contracted a realtor to sell the house.   We want to buy the house but we are trying to get our things in order (credit, getting the money, etc) to buy the house.  Can the realtor still be showing the house even when we live there? There are documents submitted to the court by the bank for foreclosure?   What can we do other than moving?

Thank you

Answer
No, Roseline, you do NOT have to move until you get an official 30-days notice from the owner of the property. And you do not have to show the property, either, unless there was something in your rental agreement to that effect. As a tenant, you have an interest in real estate. If there is no such paragraph in your agreement, then you just sit there until the lender, if it forecloses, lets you know they have taken over the property. If you want to buy the property, wait until the lender actually contacts you because they are now the owner. THEN tell them of your interest. They would be tickled that someone would want to buy it. You have no idea how much money you would be saving the lender in your position. Therefore, you should be able to buy it at a pretty good discount. Then that is when you would want to get a very knowledgeable real estate attorney or Realtor to help you do that. I wish you well.

Dick Dennis          dick@dickdennis.com