what do I do????

[dupedallaround]

I have been renting this house for 4 years and starting last year we have been getting notices about foreclosure. Then one day the landlord stated the bank needed to do a walk through. Then to find out it was because they filed bankruptcy and the court ordered a short sale on the home. All this time the landlord was telling me the hopes were for me to take over for rent to own and never worry because of the notices because they were nothing to worry about and it was a bunch of false information.
After one day notice of the house going up for short sale and the house needing to be available for view with me informing them I have kids and dogs that it would have to be by appointment only, I started getting calls from unknown numbers. To find out my phone number was listed on the listing information without my permission.
After all that I realized I had been paying rent for 4yrs and none of that money went towards the mortgage. I am now to the point of confusion and feeling like I have been so used.
Should I pay rent to the landlord? Should I get a lawyer? Where did the $60,850 I paid for rent go?

 

[army judge]

Your lease, and your rent payments allow you to legally occupy the home.
What your landlord does with your rental payments is none of your business.
The remaining time on your lease will be honored by the new owner.
If the owner wants you out, it'll be upon the expiration of your lease.
You continue paying the current owner until you learn of a new owner, then you pay her, him, or the corporation that buys the home.
If its a short sale, that could even remain the existing owner.
Whoever it might be, if they want you out, they'll have to you offer CASH FOR KEYS.
That means they negotiate with you for an amount that satisfies your needs, or you can remain in the home until the expiry of your current lease.
Read your lease, know what you've bargained to receive.
Good luck.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation. By law, you were required to pay the rent in exchange for possession of the home. Yes... it is completely galling that the landlord / homeowner wasn't using your rent money to meet his / her mortgage obligations. But that doesn't mean you weren't required to pay the rent under the lease. Getting a lawyer will not help you get back the money because you weren't wronged. The bank was the victim. The landlord may not have been the victim of anything but his / her own greed. Now it's time for the bank to not let this deadbeat off the hook and pursue the debtor for what is owed. Unfortunately you are left looking for a new place to live -- or perhaps you can discuss purchasing the home with the bank, who may put you in touch with a broker who may have listed it as a foreclosure sale.