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Protecting Tenants at ForeclosureA Homelessness Prevention EffortJanuary 20, 2010Amidst the foreclosure crisis, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has been working diligently to ensure the rights of renters living in properties that are the target of foreclosure actions. The Law Center helped ensure the May 2009 enactment of a new federal law--the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act. Prior to the law, under applicable state law in most parts of the country, tenants in such rental properties, even if they were in good standing and had been paying their rent on time, could be evicted with little or virtually no notice, leaving them without time to find another suitable place to live. The Law Center documented the paucity of legal protections for such renters under state law in its February, 2008 report Without Just Cause. The protections in the new federal law afford renters the right to remain in the property for at least 90 days, and the right, in some circumstances, to remain in the property until the end of the renter's lease. The law is an essential tool for homelessness prevention in this challenging economy. The Law Center is actively working to educate advocates, renters, members of the lending community, and others about the protections provided by the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act. We have also been urging the federal bank regulatory agencies, as well as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD to take steps to help ensure widespread implementation of the law. Read our Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure fact sheet Read a copy of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act Access the slides from a webinar on the act's protections Sample letters for use by renters and advocates in cases involving potential violations of the act:
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