If you think that renting a home is the easy way to avoid the process of buying, and makes you exempt from the nasty issue of foreclosure think again.
Recently Eyewitness News was contacted by a family renting a home that they found out is in foreclosure. Eyewitness News uncovers some unknown programs that can help people in this situation while searching out a phantom landlord.
We have been tracing the title of one home through several mortgage companies. The trail has lead us to automated systems and un-returned calls. In some cases renters caught in the middle of a foreclosure can benefit from a program called "Cash for Keys." But in this situation, finding the lender could be a race against time.
The Oildale house is home two a family of four, for now. Michelle Williams says she recently received a letter in the mail notifying the owner, that her house had gone into foreclosure. When Williams and her fiance, Brian Stiles, contacted the owner, Jacinto Guillermo, he told them to stop paying rent and get out. Stiles says they suspect Guillermo has been pocketing their rent for almost a year, without paying his mortgage. Now, the family is left in fear, wondering when they'll see an eviction notice on their door from a lender they can't find and the couple says they haven't had enough time save up to get a new place.
But some lenders offer help in this situation in the form of money, it's called cash for keys, where a lender will offer the tenant between 500 to 2000 dollars for the tenant to move out. The theory is the money spent saves the lender from a costly eviction. We spoke to mortgage agent Beth Cheatwood of Medallion mortgage who told us that cash for keys could save families a lot of head ache, saying "The occupants of the property get out and have moving money, and money to rent a place, and get on with their lives." Cheatwood says the lender will usually offer a monetary for vacating the property and "broom sweeping" it.
Williams and Stiles say they want to get on with their lives, they say they'll continue to search for the lender who owns the title to their home to find out if they offer cash for keys. And in the meantime they'll use what they've learned to protect themselves in the future by checking out a landlord before moving into a home.
Eyewitness News has have tracked the loan to a mortgage company called America Services Company, which is a Wells Fargo Company. We have not heard back but we will continue to call America Services until we find out if they offer the program and what the family can do. We have also tried contacting the landlord but so far haven't heard back.