Brooklyn Renters Feel The Brunt Of Foreclosure Crisis
April 28, 2008
According to a recent New York Daily News article, thousands of city renters being forced from their homes when the owner of the property falls into foreclosure. In fact, a recent study released by the New York University Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy found that Brooklyn had the most renters affected by the mortgage crisis in the city last year. More than 7,000 residents lost their apartments in foreclosed Brooklyn homes last year, compared with 3,723 in Queens, 2,483 in the Bronx, 1,111 in Manhattan and 488 on Staten Island.
As these homes are taken back by the lenders or purchased by new owners, renters are kicked to the curb. Many had no idea their landlords weren’t paying the mortgages, so the news is a surprise.
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. The renter first learns of the foreclosure when he or she is told to pack up and move out.
If the renter does not go peacefully, he or she faces an eviction proceeding in landlord-tenant court. That can involve time lost from work or other obligations, legal fees, and sleepless nights.
Some lenders, mindful of the fact that renters can drag the process along for months, offer “key money” to help a renter move quickly. Though some renters avail themselves of this offer, others cannot do so. Their security deposits are gone, they have been paying rent faithfully rather than saving money for the move, and are left with few choices and not much time to make them.
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