Bill would require landlords to alert renters to foreclosures

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By STEVEN FALKENHAGEN
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Friday, Feb. 13) _ First, Pamela Crowson’s landlord called: The bank was foreclosing on the Tucson house she and her husband had rented for three months.

Thirty minutes later, a representative of the bank knocked on her door: The couple and their four children had 10 days to vacate.

“I told them, ‘You are crazy if you think we could move out of a four-bedroom house in 10 days,’” said Crowson, who had recently been hospitalized for treatment of heart problems.

Crowson said she asked whether it would be possible to buy the home. Then she offered to pay $100 more a month in rent.

All she wound up with was four more days _ two weeks in all _ to move out. Her family quickly moved into another rented house, paying $250 more a month.

“I was crushed,” Crowson said. “I didn’t want to up and move again.”

Saying that too many renters are facing similar situations in the tough economy, Sen. Leah Landrum-Taylor, D-Phoenix, has introduced legislation that would require landlords to provide written notice that a property is in foreclosure.

“I’ve received so many phone calls and even physical visits to my office of individuals that have been just been devastated by what’s going on,” Landrum-Taylor said at a news conference Thursday.

Under SB 1108, a landlord would have to inform tenants that they might have to move out if the property is sold at a foreclosure sale and the new owner wishes to cancel the lease. In addition, landlords would have to give written notice at least 30 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale.

Those who fail to provide the required notice would face a misdemeanor charge.

Cheri Horbacz, program manager for Don’t Borrow Trouble-Pima County, an organization that educates consumers about predatory lending practices, said foreclosures often leave renters scrambling.

“We are getting a lot of calls from people that have five days to move out, are not getting their security deposit back and are having to move even move out of a school district to find another school,” she said.

Sandy Fagan, deputy director of the Tucson-based Southwest Fair Housing Council, said Landrum-Taylor’s bill would help renters.

“It would offer the tenant who has had no hand in the foreclosure, a rather innocent party, enough time to marshal their financial resources to find another place to live,” Fagan said.

Jake Hinman, legislative analyst for the Arizona Multihousing Association, an organization that advocates for landlords and owners of multi-family properties, said his group has no position yet on the legislation.

SB 1108 had yet to be assigned to a committee.

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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-RENTERS-FORECLOSURE: Sen. Leah Landrum-Taylor, D-Phoenix, speaks Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, at a news conference announcing legislation that would require landlords to provide tenants with 30 days notice that they face foreclosure. (Cronkite News Service/Steven Falkenhagen)