Leases & Rental Agreements

Ex-Landlord problems

missmanders — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:18:33 GMT

I was late on my rent by a couple days, and come home one day to find an eviction notice, for to be out by the end of that week. I asked him if he could let me have 2 more weeks, so I would have somewhere to have Christmas for my newborn son, and still have time to get everything out. He approved. Well now he is try to sue me for $5,000.00 for unpaid rent, damage to property, and disposal of trash.

First question: Do I have to pay the rent for the remaining time on the lease, even though I was kicked out?

Now, there was a hole in the wall where the door knob went through.

And some trash that I was unable to get out on the last day I had, and a very nice dinning room table, that I was not able to get anyone help me get out of there.

My rent was $400.00 a month.

And I am still trying to conclude how he got $5000.00.

But my main question is, what do i do? I am new at all of this, and I am not sure how to go about doing this or what I should do. I really do not think everything would equal $5,000.00 and do not think I should be charged for that.

Need Landlord to modify Lease with Purchase Agreement

TsaMarie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:10:12 GMT

Hi, My husband and I signed a Florida Lease to Purchase a home in May 2009. We separated due to domestic issues before moving. I moved into the house July 2009 without him. I am also paying Escrow money as well. My spouse is no where to be found. I requested that the landlord change the agreement to rent to purchase in my name only since my spouse never moved to Florida. The Landlord states we have a binding contract. I advised him, however, before I moved into the home that I was moving in alone with one child. They did not change or modify the agreement. The landlord states that they do not know how to do it.

I would like to know how we can change the lease to purchase agreement to my name only. I am the only one who moved into the home and wish to purchase it as well. Also, the escrow money is being held on the contract my spouse and I signed but need that modified as well.

Can anyone advise me? I appreciate yiour time. T

Living free with grandparent for 10 yrs. Legal status?

majesty — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:19:36 GMT

I have been receiving free room and board living with my grandfather for the last 10 years, providing him with companionship, and helping with chores, etc. I had no expenses for 10 years, and have no assets, not even a car. My grandfather told me I could live there for as long as I wanted. Recently, my grandfather informed by mother that he was going to change the Living Trust so that my mother would inherit my grandfathers’ home, instead of my uncle. That way, I could continue to live in the home. My grandfather was going to switch two of several homes he owns, thus, my uncle would inherit a property worth about 600K, instead my grandfather’s home, worth about 850K (in addition to another property)... There is written communication from my mother to my grandfather regarding his desire to change the Living Trust. Unfortunately, before my grandfather could instruct the executer of the Living Trust (my uncle) he became ill and has been in a coma for several weeks. My uncle has indicated that when my grandfather dies, as it stands, he plans on selling my grandfathers’ home, and that I should find a job and start making arrangements to find a place to live. However, my mother says that since I have been living there for 10 years, and had a verbal agreement with my grandfather that that I could live there as long as I wanted to, that I have legal standing. Therefore, I could stop an eviction or the sale of the property until a settlement was agreed upon with my uncle. Is this true? Do I have any legal status with only a verbal agreement?

How can you remove a personal guarentee on a business lease?

smartini6417 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:27:26 GMT

I have recently signed a lease on a building with a personal guarentee of myself for 5 years and my husband for 3 years. My husband is wanting his name off the personal guarentee and to put someone elses name on it. Can this be done? And if so what kind of things do I have to do to take care of his request. Thanks

breaking a lease for safety

blot — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:10:41 GMT

My apartment has been broken into two times in the past four months, and it seems highly improbable that my apartment was broken into at random. My roommate and I have very serious concerns for our safety and wellbeing should we stay here, but are only 5 months into our 12 month contract. Do we have any grounds for breaking our lease?

tenant duties imaintenance and repairs during lease/purchase

pdbarbour1 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:42:28 GMT

Is it legal for the landlord to require me to pay the first $75.00 of repairs and maintenance to the property (state of GA), when the repairs are actually corrections to previous repairs done incorrectly.

is this a personal issue or a rental one

noopyloopy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:42:23 GMT

i have a unique problem can anyone help

me and my husband took over a small complex and we have both have been doing mager duties together.

we have decided to move apart and seperate since then he has asked me to move out of the apt we shared.

he has pushed me into a verbal agreement that i will move out around the first of the year.

now he his saying that we never had a verbal agreement and that as acting manager i havre to move out now.

i have tryed to pay the rent or get him to give me a new lease but he wont, he said that he wants me out so his new family can move in.

does he have a legal right to ask me to leave,or do i have the right to stay because this is my home.

Landlord trying to charge fees not included in lease?

summerblossom — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:04:56 GMT

I paid $700 for a security deposit for my two dogs. $400 was non refundable and $300 was refundable. In addition, I pay an additional $20.00 a month for pet rent. I gave my 30 day notice on 11/3/2009, yet they will not let me get out of my lease until 12/31/2009 as I did not notify them of me moving by 11/01/2009. I got a letter from them today stating that before I move out I am required to pay $80.00 for a professional carpet cleaning service (I also paid in addition to the $700.00 pet fees, an additional security deposit of $730.00 to move in), and that I must pay $145.00 pet deoderization fee. My pets are crated at any time that I am not in the house so there has been no damage or pet stains. The woman in the front office even stated that she knows that my pets haven't damaged the apartment. I'm not sure how they can charge a deoderization fee that is not stipulated in the original lease, nor does it state in the original lease that carpets must be cleaned by a professional cleaning service. I do have a rug cleaner and planned to clean my carpets before I left. Can apartment complexes charge pets fees outside the deposits and pet rent fee without warning? Am I required to pay for a cleaning service? Every other apartment I've rented paid for the cleaning service as it is a given that they must clean the carpets before a new tenant moves in. I live in Tennessee by the way.

New job/ had to break my lease/ Being sued for $7,000.00

birddog2124 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:20:23 GMT

Ok, I was offered a job with the Federal Government in February of 2006 and was given 16 days to show up to my duty station. One of the first things I did was inform my apartment complex in Colorado of the new job in Arkansas and that I would have to break my Lease. They insisted on trying to collect $5,044.27. I was not able or willing to pay such an excessive amount and tried to work with them but to no avail. Since then they have sent this debt to a collection agency which has not budged on the amount in fact has raised it and now taking me to court. I have tried getting help with my Employment assistance Program but the lawyers are too expensive for me.

The problem lies in that I live in Bella Vista, Arkansas and I am being sued in the Adams County Court in Colorado. I have sent in my answer to the court and it has now been scheduled for a trial in the middle of January. I just wonder if anyone has any information that might be useful in this case or would know the best route into hiring a affordable lawyer in the area.

Is an e-mailed residential agreement legally binding?

ERubio — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:29:38 GMT

Our landlord has just informed us that she is selling her property. We have a 3-year lease agreement. We know that the new buyer is supposed to honor this lease. Now she says, "well, actually, we never signed this agreement." I saved all the e-mails between us and said, "if we can do this by email, consider this signed." She also agreed to the agreement via e-mail and even pro... her bank information so that I could deposit our rent which she has accepted for the past few months. Is this agreement legally binding?

I got evicted in GA

2Blessed — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:02:55 GMT

while living in Texas!

I will try to keep this short. I rented an apartment Sept of 2008 in GA. In May 2009, I got a roommate. In June 2009, I transferred the remaining lease into my roommate's name, all via the LL/apartment complex direction, meaning a few things would have to happen before the transfer could be done: my roommate would have to apply, pass the credit check and qualify for the lease then we would both sign the form the LL had for this process, transferring the lease. We did all this, but it took a few weeks and I got nervous my roomie was not going to qualify. She did and all was taken care of by the time July rent was due. The LL sent me a letter of recommendation stating I had been on time with rent during my 9 months there with no eviction notices, etc.

I had already moved to Texas in June. This month (October 2009) I received a notice from the Sheriff's dept filed in September of 2009 naming my roommate AND me in a dispossesary action for rent and fees for the month of September. I had taken all the required steps to be removed from the lease and had confirmed that I was removed in July.

Now, I have been named in a dispossesary action and this goes on my credit. I called the rental office and the property manager stated my roommate had been evicted but I "shouldn't have been included in the action". She said they would write me a letter but there was nothing she could do to undo my name on the dispossesary action. She said she would fax me the letter "in 15 minutes" but it never came. I asked her to have the person who filed the action (the property owner) call me on Monday (tomorrow) but when I never got the FAX, I think they aren't going to do anything.

Can I sue the property manager or take her to court over this? I don't need this kind of black mark on my credit and something tells me they aren't going to "undo" the dispossesary just to get my name off and my only course of action would be to take the owner to court.

Thank you in advance!

Do I hava a case?

TTH — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:25:37 GMT

I rented a house in south Austin from Sept. 15, 2008-Sept. 30, 2009. I took care of the home and yard as per our lease and was quite happy with both. When I heard from the owner that she was planning on selling in March, I was really excited and she told me that if I would extend my lease until March she would sell the home to me. I agreed and began planning the direction I would be taking the home after ownership. She said that she would bring over the paperwork later that week for me to sign. I hung up super excited, and told my live-in girlfriend about the conversation I had just had.

On August 28, the LL called me over to her car while visiting my neighbor (her then boy friend). She informed me that she was under some extreme financial pressure, so much so, that she was living out of her office and wanted to know if I would be willing to sublet a room for her at the house. I told her that I thought it would be inappropriate, she then told me that she would unfortunately need me to move out of the home in September.

I informed her that I had the house until the end of the month and that she had agreed over the phone that she was going to extend my lease. I immediately realized he never brought the paperwork by and unfortunately would have to oblige her uncomfortable request. I left the car and when in and told my girlfriend to began looking for a place to stay. Reluctantly she did and found one later that week. We paid a deposit and application cost for the new apartment, cleaned the house from top to bottom, refinished the wood floors, transferred all our services to the new place (with a deposit), took time off for the move, scheduled a moving truck, and canceled our yard service. We finally moved out on Sept 24. 2009. We turned in the keys and did the walk through on the 28th.

At the walk through, we went over the home, she was very impressed with its condition. We then went outside and she mentioned that the grass was quite dry, I agreed because we were under city mandated water restrictions. The grass was only being watered on our allotted watering day (Saturday). The rest of the yard was maintained as agreed in the lease but subsequently the grass was just not getting enough water so some of it died.

We completed the walk through, and came to the agreement that I would pay for the yard services two remaining yearly treatments ($29.99 for first treatment and $39.99 for the other) and that the remaining balance of my security deposit (approx. $3400) would be sent to my current address. I then texted her the number of the yard service company I was using, and my current address so that she would have it even before I sent the notice that I had moved out as per my lease. Even though she requested that I move in the first place against our verbal agreement of the lease extension.

I sent a "letter of lease termination" shortly after the move and just waited. I waited 30 days for the check and it never came so I sent a "request for security deposit" threatening that I would bring legal action if I didn't see my security deposit with in 10 days. She sent me a letter that said simply :due to the damages on my yard your security deposit of $3500 will be withheld".

Now I'm no Law major or anything but i think that this is illegal what kind of recourse do I have? Under Texas property code I know that I can sue for 100 plus up to 3 times the unlawfully withheld amount. But can she keep my money even though I did everything that the lease stipulated. Please help I am beside myself with confusion and anger for dishonest people.

-TH

Can a Tenant change locks without informing the Landlord?

W.W. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:18:44 GMT

In Texas, is a tenant allowed to change exterior locks and refuse to give the key to the Landlord?

Background: The tenant has changed the exterior locks for no reason, just wanted to ensure the landlord does not gain access to the home, although an alarm has also been installed by the tenant-seems that should settle any intrusive concerns, if any. After several attempts (months) have been made by landlord to "pick up the key", the tenant still refuses to provide a key.

Shouldn't the landlord have a key at all times, even if the home is leased? Question arises since repairs need to be made now by the landlord, except the landlord has been "locked out" of the home. It is a concern since roof damage was a result of a hurricane/storm (visible from exterior) and landlord has no way to access home and ensure there is no interior leaks/mo...

Lease agreement exists but no mold addendum provided.

How should the landlord proceed?

Can a Landlord deduct unpaid rent from security deposit?

W.W. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:41:19 GMT

In TX:

I know damanges and repairs are deducted from security deposits, but if a tenant has not paid for over 1 1/2 months, can that amount be subtracted from the security deposit as well?

NC questions about kicking out non-leased roomate

wpeterman — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:05:50 GMT

So Jan 09 me and this guy derrek moved into a house, with both of us signing the lease. Around June we decided we would let our friend JP move into the 3rd bedroom. (He did not sign the lease) So we split the $850 amonth rent into thirds = $283. Everything was fine until derrek was in a accident in Augest where he lost his foot. So he stopped paying bills (Except for rent) and moved into his parents house. Well after the accident derrek changed, he got a new girlfriend that no one likes, and he has lost all of his good friends because of it. Well derrek wants JP to put down a $425 depost and take over his side of the lease until the first of the year. Jp is a student and cant afford putting a depost down like that, let alone paying $425 per month for rent (Neither do i). So derrek told JP to move out by the end of the month, and he said that he was doing him a favor because he could legally kick him out today if he wanted to. So this leads me to my questions.
1- Can he legally kick him out without a notice?
2- I know in another thread they said something about 45 written notice?
3- Can jp legally "sell" most of his stuff to me and stay here as a guest?
Thanks!!

Landlord Help

der286 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:38:12 GMT

I recieved a letter from my former landlord stating he is keeping all of my deposit and charging an extra 900 in damages. The bulk of the damage is for carpet replacement for the whole house do to overwhelming urine smell. I had the carpets professionally cleaned 2 weeks before my lease was up. I moved out before i had the carpets cleaned. There was no smell 2 weeks after I had them cleaned. My landlord refused to do a final walkthrough with me after I scheduled and appointment with him. I believe the smell he has is from mice. I had glue traps down before I left and every once in a while the smell could be overwhelming. There are many holes in the foundation and the house is much older. Can he charge me for what is in fact his problem? I went to visit the house 3 weeks later and he hasnt fixed anything that he is charging me for. Can he do that. Can a landlord give you and itemized list of charges that hasnt been fixed at all. He also has all of the carpet and padding bundled up nice and neat in the garage. If it smelled so bad shouldnt he throw it away? I think my landlord is having a hard time renting the place and is going to try and get 2 months worth out of me.

lease termination notice

gilmour29 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:17:39 GMT

I live in Florida. My husband and I signed a lease to rent a house. The lease expired on 7/2008 and we have been doing a verbal lease since then. Earlier this month my LL stated that she wanted to sell the house. My hausband and I started looking for a new rental home and found one. We called our LL on Oct. 16th and gave her a 30 day notice. (we have also mailed a certified letter which she hasn't recieved yet). My landlord stated that according to our lease, we have to give the 30 day notice on the 1st of the month and wants us to pay for the full month of november. From what i have found and what one relator told me, I technically only have to give her a 15 day notice since we are doing a verbal month to month lease. I asked the LL if we could do a pro rated amount for the 15 days in November and she said no that we have to pay the full month and the notice doesn't start til nov 1st. What do I do? Can she say that we have to pay for the full month? No where in our lease agreement does it state that terminations have to be done on the first of the month. The only thing our lease states about lease termination is the military clause. I have been tld that i should jsut send her a check for the pro rated amount and then move out otn the 15th as planned since according to state law I onoly had to give her a 15 day notice but i'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Afriad tenants will not pay rent still owing after eviction

cff — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:46:49 GMT

As the landlord, I have been patient with my current tenants. But because they have yet to pay rent for 3 months now, I've had to send them an eviction notice stating how much was owed and when to get it to me by or they will face eviction. In the end, they had to leave as they were unable to pay the full amount. My question now is, if they leave, what guarentees me that they will pay the rent the still owe. Because while I am happy to be rid of them, they still lived in the house for those months I stated, and have to pay for that. They are moving out but are refusing to tell me the new address and claim they dont have a phone. Legally, do they have to leave the new address to me, their now ex-landlord. What happens if they do not pay still. Would I need to enlist a lawyer and what will the lawyer do to recify this situation. Also how much will it cost me for a lawyer to do this?

Thinking about taking in a college student

usthree — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:21:45 GMT

I have been thinking about renting a room in my house for a college student for a semester or two. Is there anything I should know/do before I advertise? Anything special I should consider? I am a single mom in a 5-bedroom house and could use the extra money.

Thanks!

Shopping center demands rents even after rerenting the space

ejoys — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:36:20 GMT

Normal 0

Due to mounting loss, I closed my kiosk in a shopping center in the State of Washington in July though lease expires in April 2010. The shopping center demanded I pay monthly rents till the end of the lease term. Otherwise they said they would take legal actions. So I’ve been paying the rents even though I left the shopping center.

A few days ago, I stopped by the shopping center and found a new kiosk operating in my space! I contacted the center and asked if I no longer need to pay the rents since they re-rented the space to a new tenant. Their response was NO because I have defaulted on my lease and left the center.

Am I responsible for the remainder of the lease term in this situation? If they threaten to take legal actions, how can I respond to that?

The lease agreement has the following clause on tenant default:

"If Tenant shall abandon the space, the Landlord may immediately thereafter, terminate this Lease and Tenant's right to possession and/or pursue all other legal remedies available to Landlord."

Thanks for your input!

Move-Out Notice Reminder in Texas Apt Assc Lease

zacharyt — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:46:57 GMT

The management of an apartment that I recently moved out of is charging for an insufficient notice of intent to move-out.

The lease my roommate and I agreed to was a standard Texas Apartment Association lease (http://www.taa.org/ass...). Under paragraph 3, a 60-day move-out notice is required. Though I only provided a 30-day notice of intent to move-out, paragraph 37 of the TAA lease states:

"If we require you to give more than 30-days written notice to move-out before the end of the lease term, we will give you a written reminder not less than 5 days nor more than 90 days before your deadline for giving us your written move-out. If we fail to provide a reminder notice, 30 days written notice to move-out is required."

The issue of contention here is that I never received a written reminder of the move-out period required under my lease. Thus, I provided a 30-day notice as required under paragraph 37. However, the property manager contends that the reminder notice was placed "under my door knocker" and that it "must have blown off, as that happens all the time."

It seems to me that management did not make a good faith effort to efficiently ensure the written reminder was actually recieved by the resident.

Under paragraph 28 of the TAA lease, management is allowed to enter the property to "[leave] notices." Thus, a reasonable effort that management could have made would have been to exercise their right to enter the apartment and leave the reminder notice inside the apartment, instead of on the outside of the door, which consequently has a history of these reminders "blowing away."

The property manager contends that they are only allowed to enter the apartment to serve "legal notices." If it can be assumed that the lease is a legal document (which it clearly is), then any notices required by the lease should be construed as a "legal document." Even if this particular written reminder is not classified as a written reminder, the lease does not explicity state that such notices must be legal - as managment is afforded the right to enter the apartment simply for the purposes of "leaving notices."

I am currently in the process of working between the property manager and the landlord of the complex - it is a large management company with the landlord located in Seattle - the apartment is in Austin. We have yet to come to an agreement on the issue as the property manager is maintaining that the written reminder requirement under par 37 was met by placing the document under my door knocker.

Two questions:

1) Is management required to make an effort to ensure that the resident actually recieves this written reminder of the move-out notice period in order to satisfy the requirement under paragraph 37?

2) If so, would placing the reminder under the door knocker - a location that has a history of these reminders being blown off the door or otherwise 'going missing' - serve as a sufficient effort?

It seems to me that if I had given a 60 day notice, but had placed that notice under the door knocker on the front door to the office and it had "blown away," management would contend that I did not make a sufficient effort to provide that contractually required notification. (Why wouldn't I go into the office and give it to the manager - i.e. why wouldn't management enter my apartment under their contractually guaranteed rights to place the reminder in a location that would more or less ensure that I received it?).

Very confusing situation cotenant security deposit.

confusedcotenant — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:07:29 GMT

I live in the state of New Jersey and am currently undergoing a very confusing and rather frustrating situation. In July of last year I cosigned a lease for an apartment with a roommate. In February of that year she decided to move out but decided to pay the remainder of her lease in one sum before she left. She has written a notorized letter saying that when the lease expired in July of this year that she would like to be removed from the lease and therefore any subsequent responsibilities. However the new landlord(our original one has left due to illness) has said that she lost the letter. Well herein lies my problem. When we signed we copayed for a security deposit. Which was put into an account under my name. Since she has moved she demands her half of the deposit back. But the landlord has informed me that the deposit is applied to the apt and not the tenants and I will not recieve it until the apt. is completly moved out of. But also tells me that it is my responsibility to pay her half. So basically my question is what do I do? How do I get this woman out of my life for good and not allow her to affect anything further with my apt. Another problem is that I have been living in my apt from july until now paying rent without my lease being renewed. I have informed my landlord several times that i need papers drawn up to due so and she keeps telling me that she has a new computer system and it isn't up and running yet. Or that she keeps forgetting to bring it. Or such other excuses. I also have taken on a new roommate who is now paying half of the rent. Do I add him as a cotenant with joint names on the lease or keep the lease under my name and add him as an occupant under me? It just feels like I'm in such a mess and don't know where to start. Please help!

Unclear language to me regarding one year lease. Help!

Scott T. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:14:59 GMT

I signed a one year lease which started on May 31, 2003 until May 31, 2004, and I've lived in the apartment ever since. At the end of my lease, it says:

"Thirty days prior to expiration of this Lease, Tenant shall notify Owner of intent to vacate, or to renew at the Authorized maximum allowable rent (MAR). Absent such written notice, this lease shall renew for one additional 12 month term."

The property owner believes that the lease renews indefinitely for another year every May 31 unless he is given 30-days notice prior to May 31.

The way I read the quote, it means that after the first year expired, one additional year (2nd year of tenancy) is automatic unless notice is given. My assumption is that after that, the lease goes month to month.

The question is, does the language above mean it renews EVERY May 31 for another year, or just "one additional year" after the first year?

The only other thing the lease states regarding this subject is the following stock language:

"Expiration/Holdover/Death Notice. Renter shall vacate the Premises upon expiration of the term of the lease without notice to vacate from Owner being required. Any holdover without Owner's consent shall be deemed a trespass and damages shall accrue at a daily charge equal to twice the pro-rated monthly Lease rent. A holdover with owner's written consent shall be a month-to-month tenancy subject to all covenants, and conditions of the Lease. A thirty day notice from Renter is required to terminate such holdover tenancy. Renter's death shall not terminate any remaining rental obligation for the balance of the Lease-term but Owner, at Owner's option, may take possession of the Premises and re-rent them to mitigate any damages."

I don't have anything in writing from my landlord saying this is a 'holdover' tenancy. Does that make this a year lease still? I was always under the impression that if neither party, Landlord or Tenant gives notice to the other party, and the Tenant continues to live in the residence paying monthly rent, the lease becomes a month to month contract automatically?

Rental Complex stole $400...

Sabic42 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:03:29 GMT

Well, at least I feel like they stole it. To sum up a long story my wife and I almost went through with a divorce. While we where seperated she was looking for a new place while trying to pack, work and watch her son and sometimes our girl. Basically she was trying to do a million things. Now neither one of us has a lot of money so she was trying to find a cheap place but on the same side of town. She went to a apartment place we first rented when we got married but then found a cheaper place the same day after paying a $400 deposit. They returned it to her and she went to the other place but turned out they wanted too much down. So she went back to the first place again and gave them the $400 again and signed the rental agreement but did not date it by the one spot that had little writing that read you have 48 hours after your approval then money becomes theirs weather you rent or not. Well that was a wed. That fri. night we got back togther for us and our children. Then Mon came and we went to tell them she no longer needed the apartment and to get her deposit back. They told us no. Sorry that really was the short verson. My question is ......one.... is that really legal?... Two..... if she did not date next to her signature is it again still legal?... And lastly.... she was very distraught and said they didnt tell her about the 48 hour "rule"even if they did she was in a state she wouldnt have even thought about it. Is there anything we can do? $400 may not be alot to some but it's a big deal for us. Thanks for any help.

Option to renew (how to include language in lease)

bignovak — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:17:07 GMT

I live in Los Angeles, and right now, everyone is saying it is a horrible time to invest equity into a home considering how little we know about when the market will truly start to swing up again. That being the case, there are a number of busted condos and foreclosed homes that are being rented out.

I am looking at these as an option, however the downside I see is that as soon as the market recovers, the banks/owners will attempt to sell them and kick out the renter. Therefore, I am wondering, as a renter, what I could do to protect myself, such that after the standard 12 month lease ends, I have an option to renew at a fixed rental amount, rather than putting myself at the mercy of the bank/owner and possibly being told after 12 months "Sorry, we are trying to sell now, you have to vacate in 30 days".

Would banks even consider locking themselves into longer term leases in this market?