You may need to talk w/ a lawyer and good luck.

was your landlord David Crisp?

First thing is to gather all of the written records of your "Cash For Keys" deal.  Then talk to a lawyer right away.  I don't know what the program is exactly, but it sounds like you may be able to at least put a lien on the property if you had a contract with the previous owner.

I've known several people this has happened to and I'd hazard a guess that they were not renting from established landlords.  By that I mean most likely the owners bought for investment during the boom and paid the price for speculation on it.  Sadly, tenants pay the price right along with them.

I'd be especially leery of renting a newer house these days.  A lot of people who found themselves upside down with their mortgage and couldn't sell chose to rent.  That's a really risky situation for a renter in my opinion.

What is a "Cash for Keys" program?

There is a law that has to do with renters being evicted through no fault of their own and with that, the landlord has to pay for moving costs.  I'm not clear on it, it's been a long time since a tenant threatened me with that and I checked it out.   That, most likely is what this is all about.

It would take some searching and I'm not up to it tonight.  In any case, this couple had 2 weeks to be out and would be reimbursed $3000 I believe it was.  It was THEIR  choice not to be out in two weeks and opted for the long moveout period which only paid $1000.  Even at that, she admitted they were 4 days late moving and forfeited the money.  I don't see why the bank is at fault.

(Her story is posted on another blog....please read the details, I may be off money vs time.)

The "Cash for Keys" program is suppose to give you money when you vacate the property; from the bank who repo'd it; not the landlord....  They told us we would get it the day we vacated; I did not receive a dime.  I did revoke the contract to request some more time to get out but a friend of mine who has the same landlord and bank said that GMAC told them they wouldn't get the cash because they already moved.  They told me that  the cash would be paid on the last day that we were there; they  would inspect the property and give us a check, but when the contract came it stated that the cash would be paid 15 to 20 days after we vacated the property.  Either way, they did not stick to what was promised.  The Realtor that wanted the listing was going to give us the cash themselves, but because we requested a little more time, we saw nothing.  This is sooooo wrong.  How are people suppose to relocate if they do not receive the cash first ??   If I did not have family to stay with,  we would be homeless.

A law should be passed to protect renters.....we are not the ones that got ourselves into the sub prime mess.  We were just paying our rent and thinking all is well.....

Trust me.  As a former rental property owner, the tenants had more rights than I did.  When it takes 3 months to evict deadbeat "squatters" who also destroyed the house, there's something wrong with the law who should be protecting BOTH tenamt and landlord.

Joey, I don't mean to sound harsh but on the other blog you admitted you were 4 days late moving out.  Requesting more time doesn't mean it was granted.  If you had been in total compliance I'd be right there with you..however, you admitted you were not.

Personally I think the whole thing sucks and many people were hurt by the greed of unscrupulous investors.  This mess is going to have repercussions for a long time.  Renters need to be just as cautious of landlords as landlords are of the renters.

In response to the comment that the bank is not at fault for not giving the relocation fees;  We were evicted because of the landlord's foreclosure; not anything that we did....4 days is not a long time to be late getting out.  I've heard  horror stories of vandalism, trash, damage, etc. We left the house spotless.  Shouldn't there be some kind of compensation for the emotional/financial loss/ stress of having to move from a place you have been in for 5 years??   Thank you for the info re: the landlord having to pay relocation fees if the tenant had been evicted through no fault of their own.  I had a friend (attorney) tell me the same thing.  It would be the landlord that should be served....but I feel that the bank should be held accountable for all the conflicting info and not following through.  These are human lives they are dealing with !!

  4 days...come on give me a break; we were not dead beat squatters; and they did not have to start the eviction process.  They lied to us from the get go; I was told to revoke the contract also because it did not state what I was told on the telephone.  Granted, I did not have to sign, but they would not return any calls.  A friend of mine, an attorney, also tried to call; they wouldn't respond to him either.  I did not want the eviction process to start, I got out;   I did my part !!!!!!

I did not say YOU were dead beat squatters or anything about eviction regarding you.  Please read it again and you'll see that I was referring to the comment about renters not having any rights.

Also, please don't get on your high horse with me.  I lived in a rental house for 9 years and was given notice to move because the landlord decided to put the house on the market.  I was VERY upset as I loved the house and the neighborhood but move I did.  And with NO compensation.  He didn't offer, I didn't ask.....I figured it was his property and he didn't owe me rights to his property.   The house by the way was listed for 269K and is still vacant after 1 1/2 years and now listed at 185K.  There's always some justice it seems.

RE: you being late 4 days.  Have you ever been late on a credit card..by one day?  They don't have to honor your payment record if you go over the line.  If they do, it's a courtesy, not a right.  A lot of landlord strictly enforce the late fee too with NO exceptions.   The thing to have done would have been to be out by the dealine and this wouldn't be an issue.

Nancy,

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm on a "high horse"  I understand that we can be evicted etc. if the landlord sells or whatever....it is just that I was advised by an attorney to request more time, and I don't feel 4 days was a big deal.  Also, I am still "aching over this whole mess"  a lot of people, pets were all affected.  I am getting on with my life; but I want to get the word out there so other people can get some protection.....

I understand your problem as I wasn't the only one displaced with my situation either.  I was forced to find a place with only about 15 days leeway due to a home purchase falling through leaving me with little time to find a place where I could have my lab and my hairball to the left here.  I got lucky and found a cute place even though it isn't in the area I would have chosen.  Sometimes "we do what we gotta do."  And, as you said, move on with our lives.

Nothing wrong with warning people....this may be an ongoing problem for a while.

Foreclosure fallout: Renters forced out of lost homes

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Alice Mills signed her lease in February, thinking she would have a nice place to stay for the next year, until she could make her way into a senior citizens' community.

The corner house she found in northeast Philadelphia was small, but it was enough for the 67-year-old great-great-grandmother who lives by herself.

Then in July, Mills got a rude surprise when she came home from a hospital stay to find a sheriff's notice on the door, saying the house had been foreclosed and she must call about being evicted.

Mills says her landlord told her not to worry because he would "take care of it," so she ignored other letters and notices that came to the apartment. Not until a sheriff's deputy showed up on November 13 did Mills take the eviction notices seriously. He told her she had to be out of the house the next day.

In most states, when a bank forecloses on a landlord, the tenant has no guarantee of being allowed to stay in the property. In addition, neither the bank nor the landlord has any legal obligation to inform the tenant of the foreclosure. Often, the renter first learns of the foreclosure when he or she is being told to vacate the property within a few days or weeks.

Often people have continued to pay rent to a landlord even though that landlord no longer owns the dwelling.

Lenders sometimes offer an incentive to tenants called "cash for keys," in which they give the tenant money if they'll move out within a certain period of time, but Liben is skeptical.

"These offers are usually useless. They are just small change that doesn't help with the problem at all and doesn't help the renter who is forced quickly out into a market that they have to navigate at their own peril," says Liben.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/...

Really sorry to hear it, Joey.  As for the money, I'm pretty sure that's gone.  If you can get free legal advice, go for it.  I wouldn't even hire a lawyer at this point since the cost will most likely outweigh any possible benefit.

Good luck to you.

Professional squatters blackmailing banks, successfully.... wow

seek cash from banks as a condition to leave the premises

"In some regions, squatting is taking on new twists to include real-estate scams in which thieves "rent out" abandoned homes they don't own. Others involve "professional squatters" who move from one abandoned home to another posing as tenants who seek cash from banks as a condition to leave the premises -- a process known by real-estate brokers as "cash for key."

"There are people who move in and know exactly who to contact and say 'If you want this house, why don't you come out here and offer me cash,'" said Detective Erin Camphouse of the Los Angeles Police Department's Real Estate Fraud Unit.

"It's just cheaper for the banks to do that rather than going into the courts," she said. "The squatters are getting sophisticated and turning it on these banks who own the properties.""

---The next real estate boom has apparently begun.

seek cash from banks as a condition to leave the premises

 Does anyone know if there is some kind of law regarding a landlord notifying the tenant if the house is in foreclosure ?  Is it fraud if she took my rent money and did not make the house payment ??  The house was in foreclosure since 10/07 and it foreclosed 2/08.  I paid the rent on time all those months.  I don't expect to live for free.....but like I mentioned above "Is it fraud if she used the money for something other than the mortgage payment ?? Any advice or links to tenant/landlord laws would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Mimi

Does anyone know if this Civil code applies to the situation ? California Civil Code Sections 890-894

TITLE 6. RENT SKIMMING

California Code All US State Codes

Part (d) of the code:
 

  (d) A tenant of residential real property may bring an action
against a person who has engaged in rent skimming with respect to
that property for the recovery of actual damages, including any
security, as defined in Section 1950.5, and moving expenses if the
property is sold at a foreclosure sale and the tenant was required to
move.  A prevailing plaintiff in such an action shall be awarded
reasonable attorney's fees and costs.  The court also may award
exemplary damages; it shall award exemplary damages of at least three
times the amount of actual damages if the payments due under any
deed of trust or mortgage were two or more months delinquent at the
time the tenant rented the premises or if the defendant has engaged
in multiple acts of rent skimming.
 

To read the entire code go to:

http://law.justia.com/calif...