Verify Occupancy

My family and I are currently renting a lovely home.
When I came home Thursday I noticed an envelope on our kitchen table with bold letters stating IMPORTANT INFORMATION ENCLOSED. This envelope had a hole in it at the top so that it could hang on a door knob. I opened the envelope and it was a notice to call National City Mortgage or Homeowners Hope Hotline. When I looked at the envelope again I noticed in small print someone had hand written our landlords name.
My 19 year old son came home and told me that earlier in the day someone had pulled in our driveway and came to the door and asked for our landlord by name. My son told the person that his family rents the home from the said landlord. This person said she was there to verify occupancy. She gave my son the envelope and asked him to give it to the said landlord. He left the envelope on the kitchen table.

We contacted our landlord and he refuses to talk with us.

Please Help! What does this mean??? Is our landlord about to be foreclosed on???

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

Jon Holdman

Real Estate Investor · Wheat Ridge, Colorado

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Oct 03 '09, 11:39 PM

That does seem suspicious.

You can verify the foreclosure status with the county recorder. Many counties have records online. You can try googling for your county name, state, and "recorder" or "clerk". Unfortunately, every count seems to have a complete different system, and they're often difficult to use. You can try just looking for a phone number and calling the recorder.

The first official step of the foreclosure process is a "notice of default", "lis pendens" or some similar document being filed with the county. Here in CO its called the NED or Notice of Election and Demand. If you say where you are, someone may be able to provide specific information.

From that point, its often several months up to the better part of a year before the foreclosure completes and the property is sold at auction.

The first unofficial step of a foreclosure is to start missing payments. I can't tell if that notice is from the lender or someone else. the lender might try to contact your landlord before starting the official process.

The processes vary widely from state to state. The first step would be to try to find out if the official process has started, and the county recorder is the place to state if the landlord's not talking.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

Jon Holdman, Flying Phoenix LLC

Cary Donham

Real Estate Investor · Dallas, Texas

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Oct 04 '09, 01:37 AM

Michelle I don't know where you are located so you might need to act quickly because here in TX the lender only has to file with the county clerk 21 days prior to the foreclosure.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

P NW

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Oct 04 '09, 01:40 AM

You know, it might be a notice from the bank or it might be some sort of advertising scam (Homeowners Hope Hotline? Really? That doesn't sound like a bank to me)

At any rate, it isn't for you, so deliver it to your landlord.

If you want to know if the property is in foreclosure, it will be recorded with the county. Go down and ask. They will have an information office and clerks to either look it up or explain to uyou how to do it.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

P NW

· OR

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Oct 04 '09, 01:42 AM

By the way, just because the bank is sending notices, it does not mean your landlord will lose the property. Many times, the property owner will find a way to pay rather than lose the property.

Just like you, as a tenant, might get a letter from the electric company telling you they are about to cut off your power. They don't because you scape up the money to pay them before the deadline.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

Jon Holdman

Real Estate Investor · Wheat Ridge, Colorado

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Oct 04 '09, 01:57 AM

National City Mortgage is a real mortgage company:

http://www.nationalcitymortgage.com/

Homeowner's Hope Hotline is a government sponsored (or some such) program to try to help people avoid foreclosure. The success rate of this program doesn't seem very high, but it is a legit program:

http://www.hopenow.com/

Now whether the person at the does represented the lender or not is a good question. They could well have been an investor looking to work a deal with the owner. In any case, there appears to be something going on here.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 09:55AM

Jon Holdman, Flying Phoenix LLC