Renters Also Threatened by Foreclosures

June 25, 2009

Though many believe that foreclosure only affects home and property owners, thousands of renters are finding out the hard way that they can have problems, as well. The San Fernando Sun recently published an article about a mother who was evicted from her home when she could not afford to pay five months of rent to the bank that owned her building.

According to the story, the woman came home one evening to find a bank representative with a hand-written note, saying that she had to pay up five months of rent. Her apartment building, in which she had lived since early 2008, had been foreclosed upon and the bank had taken possession.

The mother of three was unable to pay the sum, so she took the bank to court- using the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley for assistance. She was provided a lawyer, free of charge, however he did not speak Spanish, and the woman did not speak English.

The court did not provide the woman with a translator, so the man who had delivered the notice from the bank was asked to translate. The case was ruled in his favor and the woman was evicted from her apartment building. She and her three children were forced to move across town.