Q: the landlord has not made payments for 8 months, so the house is in pre foreclosure status. The property was due to be
sold on 6/18/20. I the renter is still paying rent. Do I have to continue to pay rent?
A:
Under normal circumstances your payment of rent is not dependent on the Owner paying the mortgage, which is unfortunate because if the LL does not pay the mtg. the house is foreclosed and you are evicted by the bank. I have never heard of a bank letting a renter stay and pay the rent to the bank, after foreclosure, even thought that seems to me to be a good idea in times when the market is slow. The real risk is the potential damage to your credit rating if an eviction is filed against you for non payment of rent. If you don't pay rent you will get a 3 day notice and the LL can prevail in an eviction unless you have a valid defense (such as protection under the COVID rules). It is risky to think you have a great defense, do you want to risk your credit rating for that? If the property was advertised for sale there is the phone number of the realtor on the sign, call them to see if the property sold.
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