Tenant Rights in Foreclosure in Florida

[lauraA]

My question involves a foreclosure in the State of: Florida

So we were just served papers saying that the bank is seeking foreclosure against our landlord. Apparently the mortgage hasn't been paid for the last 4 months. We've had other issues with the landlord, and so we're thinking it's best for us to simply move out rather than wait to see how this shakes out.

Given the other issues I alluded to, it's pretty clear to us that the landlord simply doesn't have money, and we are worried that we will lose our deposit.

When we talked to the landlord's rental agent (who we pay our rent to) she told us the landlord was doing a "mortgage adjustment" and we had nothing to worry about.

My questions are:

-- is it possible for a mortgage adjustment (what is that anyway?) to involve not paying the mortgage for 4 months? In other words, are we being told untruths?

-- can we legally inform the landlord we'll be leaving in 2 months, even if the lease is not up until June?

-- since we're worried about not recovering our deposit, can we tell them we will not pay rent for the next two months in lieu of trying to get the deposit back the normal way?


ETA: withholding the next two months rent is the only way we'll have money for a deposit on a new place. If we kept paying rent and then were evicted because of the foreclosure, and did not receive the deposit back, I don't know where we would find the money to make a deposit on a new rental.
Thanks.

[GroundZero]

Regarding your questions:

1. Some mortgage modifications require the owner to be current and others require the owner to be a few months behind. It's possible the landlord's agent is right. However, it is not relevant to you as a tenant, as you need to assume the foreclosure will not go away.

2 and 3. You can probably terminate the lease early. See the Florida Statutes-you need to send a specific notice to the landlord and give him time (a week?) to cure (unlikely). If he does not, state your intentions to move out after your last month's rent deposit is used up. Your security deposit may be trickier-ask an attorney. But practically speaking, if your landlord knows you are moving out soon, they are unlikely to spend money on an eviction process that takes time anyway. As with anything here, talk to a lawyer to be safe, especially about whether you need to keep paying rent as a tenant in foreclosure.

For more information check out this website for some good info about tenants and foreclosure: http://www.kleinfirm.com/florida-ten...ure-guide.html

Also, just because the property is in foreclosure does not mean you need to move out now. Florida Foreclosure takes longer and you could stay for many months until the foreclosure sale is set. You can negotiate rent and deposits with your landlord (get it in writing!) or get legal help to do it on your behalf.