Former landlady buys new locks

Got a call from Sasha, the tenant Arise is working with, about nine this morning. Seems the building's former owner had put a new lock on the kitchen door and was telling tenants a new lock would go on the front door, also, to which only she would have a key-- anybody who wanted in or out of the building would have to call her (she also lives there). Sasha said the woman's son had come over and he'd done lock work on the place before.

I got the former owner's number from Sasha and called but it went to voicemail. I told her I was sorry she was losing her house, but that what she was doing was illegal. I called the Fire Department but all they had available on a Sunday was a referral to 911, which I wasn't going to do. I called the Police Department and at first they didn't want to get involved-- said it was a landlord/tenant issue better dealt with by Housing Code on Monday-- but after I explained that the woman was no longer the owner of the building, and had no legal right to do what she was doing, and kept reiterating my fear there would be a fire, they said they would send a cruiser and I expressed my gratitude. The police came, talked to the former owner, and she removed the locks. I expect there will be another salvo later on, but we'll see.

Fire has been on my mind and probably the minds of the police and fire departments because two boys, four and seventeen, died in a house fire in Springfield yesterday. Yesterday morning, firefighters from all over New England in Springfield for a conference attended a ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral for all those who have fallen in the past year.

Foreclosed owner puts tenants at risk

A couple of months ago a woman who had no place to live (we'll call her Sasha) came into Arise for Social Justice for some help and she got it-- Lamont happened to know about a room in a boarding house that fit her budget, and she moved in, very happy that the Worthington St. Shelter was not her next stop.

Two days ago Sasha reappeared at Arise. Apparently the owner of the building had come to her (and three other tenants) at the end of May and told her that the house was being foreclosed upon, that she needed to move in the next twelve days, and that she, the owner, wanted her rent.

Sasha was upset because it appeared that the woman knew the house was being foreclosed upon before she rented the apartment to Sasha. (This is a very common story.) That didn't seem fair to Sasha. She'd withheld her June rent and wanted to know what to do next.

Of course, the story was very much more complicated. We could tell her that if she paid her rent, she should pay it to the new owner, not the old. We could tell her that a new law allowed tenants in foreclosed properties a three month notice, not the usual 30 days. But we also knew that if the dwelling was an illegal boarding house, it might void her right to stay.

The next day, Sasha came back to say that the landlady had come to her room with a man purporting to be from Housing Code Enforcement to say that she had to move out right away. The landlady had also put a padlock on the kitchen door (access to the kitchen was supposed to be included in the rental agreement) which also meant that tenants only had one means of egress if there was a fire.

Six hours of phone calls spread over two days produced the following:

• I could not find any program in Springfield that assists tenants in foreclosed properties-- some help for owners, but not tenants. I'll keep looking.
• The woman who owned the house was notified in April-- before Sasha moved in-- of the bank's intent to foreclose.
• As of June 12, the woman no longer owns the property, it is now owned by an international bank which is proving extremely difficult to reach. We did find the book and page number at the Registry of Deeds which shows the deed transfer.
• No one from Housing Code Enforcement went to Sasha's apartment with the former owner.
  

We then went over to where she lives and cut the padlock off the kitchen door so that tenants could cook and escape in case of a fire. We gave Sasha the page and book number in case the former owner calls the police so Sasha can show that the woman is no longer the owner and that the tenants have the right to protect themselves. We also gave Sasha our home numbers so that if there's a problem over the weekend, she can call us.

I know that situations like this are happening all over Springfield. Some owners will continue to rent right up to the very last minute and never inform tenants about a pending foreclosure.

Our tent meeting to form a Springfield Tenants Union will take place on Wednesday, July 8, 6 pm. at the Arise headquarters, 467 State St. Spread the word.

Photo from Fotogalarie.

A housing law we need

The Republican reports that foreclosure rates in Hampden County were three times as high this April as the April before.

Many people seem to don't have a lot of sympathy for the owners of foreclosed properties. But what about the tenants?

I drove an old friend "home" last night. She told me she was looking for another place to live because the three family house she and her son were living in had been foreclosed on. The weird thing about it was that the house was in foreclosure three months before she moved in; the owner knew it and didn't tell her. Turns out I know the guy who lives downstairs from my friend, he's the son of an Arise member. He'll be out on the street, too.

The owner told me friend that she should go ahead and look for another apartment, and that on the day she found one, he would write her a check for first month's and security at the new place if she agreed to sign a paper abandoning all future claims. She agreed to do that, and she's found two different apartments and notified the owner, but somehow the check was never given!

Tenants in foreclosed properties don't have many rights in Massachusetts. the mortgage companuies who buy the properties want tenants-- even very good, longterm tenants. -- put out before they buy. The Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library has information on some tenant right, but what exists isn't very substantial, and even so, many landlords and mortgage companies don't follow it.

How about a law that requires landlords to inform potential tenants if their property is in foreclosure? The legislative session is almost finished for this year, so such a law couldn't even be introduced until the fall. But something needs to be done. Tenants in foreclosed properties do not deserve to suffer because property owners want to squeeze every last penny they can out of their housing.