Renters and the law

[Psychobabble]

Hello all! Interesting drama in my life. Apparently my landlords have neglected to pay their 2004 and 2005 taxes on our building. The only reason I know this is because the local tax bureau cannot find my landlords at the address they had given and posted the note on my door about a month ago which I sent to them with last month's rent. Anyway, I called the tax bureau today to see what the status was and they said that while my landlords had made a payment on their delinquent taxes, the bureau has chosen to auction the building off anyway....on Friday!! Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone know how this affects the renters? I have a co-worker who told me about how this happened to a neighbor of hers and they came and locked everything up so the owner could not get it! (This was a house, instead of an apartment, but those of us who live there will be VERY angry if we come home Friday and cannot get into their apartments!!) Also, rent is due the 1st of the month. I obviously do not want to pay for October's rent to my current "slum lords" if they are no longer the owner. Anyone know what rights I have as a renter? I live in PA if that helps!

[jrwilheim]

Hello all! Interesting drama in my life. Apparently my landlords have neglected to pay their 2004 and 2005 taxes on our building. The only reason I know this is because the local tax bureau cannot find my landlords at the address they had given and posted the note on my door about a month ago which I sent to them with last month's rent. Anyway, I called the tax bureau today to see what the status was and they said that while my landlords had made a payment on their delinquent taxes, the bureau has chosen to auction the building off anyway....on Friday!! Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone know how this affects the renters? I have a co-worker who told me about how this happened to a neighbor of hers and they came and locked everything up so the owner could not get it! (This was a house, instead of an apartment, but those of us who live there will be VERY angry if we come home Friday and cannot get into their apartments!!) Also, rent is due the 1st of the month. I obviously do not want to pay for October's rent to my current "slum lords" if they are no longer the owner. Anyone know what rights I have as a renter? I live in PA if that helps!

When you rent a property from the owner, and the owner subsequently sells the property, you still have a valid lease and a legal right to remain on the property. That said, the new owner may decide not to renew your lease when it expires. This happens all the time in New York--someone buys an apartment building with the intention to turn it into condos, and they either kick out all the tenants when the lease expires or, to expedite the process, pay the tenants large amounts of money to move immediately.

Regarding who you pay your October rent to--can't help you with that one. You may want to contact the current owners of the building (if you can kind them). I'm sure they'll let their renters know when a transfer of ownership takes place. Or you may want to check in with the government office that's auctioning off your building.

Hope this helps.

[wordsmith]

Look up your most local tenants' rights union or organization. They should be able to tell you how this should legally unfold for you.

[Psychobabble]

Here's the "neato" thing too. I haven't signed a new lease since I signed the one-year when I moved in.....that was December 2004! I'm guessing I'm month-to-month now, but I have no clue! As you can tell, they've never been real "with it." I've had a hole in my ceiling from where the skylight in the apartment upstairs leaked when it rained A YEAR AGO! And while the skylight got fixed, my ceiling never did!

[jrwilheim]

Here's the "neato" thing too. I haven't signed a new lease since I signed the one-year when I moved in.....that was December 2004! I'm guessing I'm month-to-month now, but I have no clue! As you can tell, they've never been real "with it." I've had a hole in my ceiling from where the skylight in the apartment upstairs leaked when it rained A YEAR AGO! And while the skylight got fixed, my ceiling never did!

You might want to see what you can do about signing a lease pronto. If the building changes hands and you can't prove that you have a legally binding lease, the new landlord could evict you. That usually requires at least 30 days' notice, however.

[Jedi of Zen]

You might want to see what you can do about signing a lease pronto. If the building changes hands and you can't prove that you have a legally binding lease, the new landlord could evict you. That usually requires at least 30 days' notice, however.


That's kinda my thought, too. Psychobabble, do you have a copy of the original lease that you signed? If so, it may give you some insight as to what your "official" status is now that all this has happened.

Pragmatically speaking, I would think it would be an awful lot of trouble for the new owner to force all the tenants to move out and then turn around and find new tenants to fill up the vacancies.

[jrwilheim]

That's kinda my thought, too. Psychobabble, do you have a copy of the original lease that you signed? If so, it may give you some insight as to what your "official" status is now that all this has happened.

Pragmatically speaking, I would think it would be an awful lot of trouble for the new owner to force all the tenants to move out and then turn around and find new tenants to fill up the vacancies.

It depends on what his intentions are once the property is vacant. If the new owner's intention is to maintain the property as a rental property, then no, it would be pointless to force paying tenants out and find new people. But his intention may be to turn the apartments into condominiums or co-ops, or he may intend to tear down the property and construct something else there.

[Illuminous]

I would check your states renter's laws some states have fantastic renter's rights and some, like my former state Missouri, have none.