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You rent an apartment or a house. You pay your rent on time every month. The next thing you know, there is a bailiff or a sheriff's deputy at your door serving you an eviction notice and threatening to toss you out - and toss all your worldly belongings on the street.
What's worse, it's absolutely legal.
That's what's happening all across the United States when a landlord defaults on his loan and the mortgage company moves in to reclaim the property. The unsuspecting renter, who has done absolutely nothing wrong, who has paid his rent to the landlord, is the one who suffers.
In New York state, where Deutsche Bank is the worst offender, a state assemblyman is moving to change the law to give renters who face eviction a 90 day grace period. State Sen. Jeff Klein's bill is a good one, but it doesn't go far enough.
The law must be fundamentally changed to give renters legal rights. After all, they are legally obligated to pay the landlord, not the mortgage company. And if they fulfill that legal obligation, they should be permitted to stay in the property.
Of course, the bank still has the right to foreclose and become the new landlord. Perhaps the law should simply transfer the obligations assigned to the landlord to the bank for the time remaining on the contract. But to evict someone who is paying his or her rent is unconscionable, and frankly, should be considered in every state of this Union, criminal.
