What can we expect to get if we sue a landlord that rented us a house that was in foreclosure?
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What can we expect to get if we sue a landlord that rented us a house that was in foreclosure?
We rented out a house 3 years ago and went through a rental company and signed a 12 month lease with the homeowner. A couple of months down the road we got served with papers stating the house was in foreclosure. We had no idea; we had been paying several months in rent. The landlord never confessed. I was wondering if we can go back and sue them for our deposit and months that we paid in rent and for the expense of having to move. Also, as a result of all this I lost my stable place of employment.
Asked on June 17, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Landlords are under a duty to disclose all material information that a tenant would want to know when considering whether to sign a lease. And a foreclosure is considered to be material. If a tenant can prove that the original landlord failed to disclose that a foreclosure was imminent or had already been filed, this amounts to fraud and the tenant can sue the landlord for monetary damages, such as the cost of moving and any increased rent they had to pay for their new rental. A tenant can also sue for the return of their security deposit. As for suing for the loss of your employment, this is a more tenuous claim and you would have a heavy burden of proof. Finally, you would not be entitled to reimbursement for the rent that you paid. Even though your landlord was not paying their mortgage it did not eliminate your obligation to pay your rent. You bargained for a place to live and that is what you got (granted just for not as long as you were supposed to).
However in order to bring a lawsuit you must do so within a certain time period called the "statute of limitations". If the time period specified has passed, you are barred from filing. In most states for a claim of this kind the SOL is typically 2-3 years. So if you haven't already missed the deadline it is rapidly approaching; you must act ASAP.
Note: Had all of this happened just a year later you would have had protection under federal law. With 1 exception, you would have been allowed to stay until the end of your lease.
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