I think I'm screwed. Dueller, any other attorneys, suggestions?

HHI944 · 10-19-2010, 05:01 PM

Back Story:
I'm in my 3rd lease on a property and recently have been referred to a partner in the ownership whom I didn't even know existed until recently. I resumed my beotching about the roof and electrical issues that I'd been harping on for a few months. (Stupidly, I signed the last lease thinking that maybe something would be done.) Actually, I included a note informing him that the lease would be terminated and I would sue to collect my costs in moving should he not fix the issues within 30 days (my terms were relatively lenient in comparison to what state law permits) The new guy gets an electrical contractor out and that issue is resolved fairly quickly and cheaply as it was just one of those stupid things. The roof was dead. I accommodated nearly a dozen companies coming out to gather information for a quote and after 2 weeks he settles on one. Another week passes as the roofer waits for a 50% deposit, then he receives a 25% deposit and the next day my 'landlord' leaves the country for the week. The roofer begins work as he fears that the roof would not withstand many more storms or even mild winds (8 year roof, 26 years old). 'The check is in the mail' is the line he's been given for the last 2.5 weeks and I still have roofers coming out to do a little bit everyday, driving myself and my neighbors thoroughly insane. After a long conversation with the roofer, he says that most situations like this occur not long before the house is foreclosed upon. I do some digging at this point because the house was represented as mortgage and lien free when I signed the initial lease. Sure enough, there's a 500k mortgage on the house that was taken out when the current owners purchased in '04. I pull the actual mortgage and, after reading all 30 pages multiple times, I'm pissed. The mortgage actually explicitly prohibits them from renting/leasing the house as a term of the variable interest rider and the remedy is that the mortgage company calls the loan. In my current lease, I'm paying ~30% over fair market as the previous lease was fairly cheap and he admitted to me that he needed more money as the last one didn't actually cover his expenses.

I'm not sure what to do. The roofer is pissed and I'm freaking out that I might have someone knocking on the door, from the bank, telling me to GTFO any day now. Should I pack up and haul ass? There are about 4 months left on this lease and if I'm going to have to move early it needs to be now as my busy season is coming for my business and I'm looking at 2 solid months of 80+hr weeks. As for the legality of packing up, I'm all clear, I 'should' have left nearly a month ago according to state law.
I'm pissed.

Laneco · 10-19-2010, 05:09 PM

***I am not an attorney nor did I sleep in a Hotel 6 last night***

But here's the deal in my humble opinion. If the dude is making his mortgage payments, his bank will foreclose on him when he11 freezes over to a solid block of glacial ice.

The roofer will put a lien on the house. They'll stand in line behind the mortgage company lien. You don't have a dog in the fight unless the owner stops paying and you have to move.

angela

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

residential lease?

state?

and, what is so great about the place that you are paying 30% extra for it?

practically speaking, I agree with Laneco

HHI944 · 10-19-2010, 05:27 PM

The thing is, I'm not sure he's making the mortgage payments, it's a 3rd or 4th house for him and he's been unable to come up with the other 10k to pay the roofer. Christ, I could pay the poor roofer. I'm not going to, but I could and I'm nowhere near being able to afford to purchase the house right now. I did the math and my current rent still isn't covering all of his expenses and he's not even paying principal on the house currently. The guy seems a little cash strapped and I know his partner in the house was cash strapped. I've also found out that there's a lien from the HOA on the house. Seems they didn't like to keep the lawn mowed all the time before I rented and golfers complained.

Yeah, residential lease, in SC.
Mostly, I didn't feel like moving and there wasn't a lot comparable, for my needs, on the market at the time the lease came up. It's also 4th row from the beach, I've enjoyed being able to stumble to a VERY private section of beach any time I feel the urge.

Rot 911 · 10-19-2010, 05:46 PM

Angela is pretty close to dead on. If the bank hasn't started foreclosure proceedings yet, your lease will be up long before they foreclose on the house. Even if they do foreclose, you can probably work out a deal to stay there while they try to find a new buyer.

Dantilla · 10-19-2010, 06:05 PM

Plan on moving in four months when the current lease is up.

Gogar · 10-19-2010, 06:30 PM

Seems like you've spent quite a lot of time and effort researching the business of your landlord. Time you should have spent looking for somewhere else to live. If it really bugs you so much, concentrate on YOUR solution to YOUR problem, not your landlord's solution to his problems. If you indeed can afford to buy the roof yourself, you can afford to break your lease agreement 3 months worth.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

I wouldn't expect much consumer protection in SC.

But I wouldn't expect a big problem anyway. If they do thump him, see if they would like YOU to stay and continue paying them money (likely). Or buy the place from them. Or... If not, you would stop paying the landlord (as there is no land for him to lord any more); and just leave.

How long will it take for you to move out?

You can buy a lot ofd atty time for that $10k to pay the roofers - several hours worth anyway.

HHI944 · 10-19-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gogar

Seems like you've spent quite a lot of time and effort researching the business of your landlord. Time you should have spent looking for somewhere else to live. If it really bugs you so much, concentrate on YOUR solution to YOUR problem, not your landlord's solution to his problems. If you indeed can afford to buy the roof yourself, you can afford to break your lease agreement 3 months worth.

Not really that much time, maybe an hour. But, you are right, I should focus on my solution. A little more digging shows that I should get, at the minimum, 30 days from when the bank actually takes possession to clear out. Normally wouldn't be a big deal, but coming into my busy season, taking even 2-3 days off to move could cost 20k in profit if they're the wrong days. No proceedings have been started yet, so, I should be in the clear for the remainder of the lease.

RWebb, the bank would have to take a serious hit for me to buy the house. 500k is owed, the house next door just sold for 415 and the one I'm in has some impending deferred maintenance issues that will be fairly costly. I really wouldn't be an interested buyer over 275 and I doubt they'd see much more than 325 at auction. The foreclosure market SUCKS here.

I think I'm going to do some hunting this weekend and be ready to sign a Jan 1 lease and put a deposit down. I have absolutely no intention of staying here past the lease and I don't think I'll be exactly welcome. I've already agreed to testify for the roofer should he have to sue and he plans to file before the end of the week if he's not paid.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

likely the roofer wins; then he has to collect; his atty can tap into the cash flows of the house's owner but sounds like he has none, so a(nother) lien will be placed on the house...

Flyer88 · 10-20-2010, 05:40 AM

Where abouts on HHI? Been going there since I was 3 (1969) and love it there...married there in 1999. My parents are heading down at the end of the month for a few weeks and plan to go to the Concours.

HHI944 · 10-20-2010, 07:33 AM

I'm in Port Royal Plantation. The HOA is nuts, but it's very private and the beach is all but deserted most of the time.
It's a great place to get married, a guy a few blocks over is a professional photographer (big time, did some Subie print ads and a bunch of other high profile stuff), he's hitting the beach wedding photography scene pretty hard here.
The Concours is always a lot of fun, most years, this one included, I volunteer one day then just go to the next.
I think I've found a place to rent after this one is up. It's been on the market for a few months, is slightly bigger, has a pool and is just as close to the beach..........for a few hundred a month less.