Comfort in Times of Foreclosure 5/6/09

JEFFERSON CITY - It's a bill that would give renters more protection during evictions.

Can you imagine being a renter and paying all your bills and then suddenly the bank comes knocking at your door? They tell you they've foreclosed your home.

Right now, if a bank were to foreclose on rental property, they could evict the renter right away, without any warning; even if a renter always pays on time they're left in the cold.

Renters pay their landlords. The landlords then pay the banks, but if they don't, the renter takes the fall, through no fault of their own.

Often, foreclosures go unnoticed by the renters because the banks only notify the homeowner, or the landlord. The lack of protection for tenants doesn't sit well with Missouri legislators and renters.

"Currently, there's only rules in the books for homeowners, not tenants when it comes to foreclosures," said Rep. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City.

Curls sponsored a bill that would give extra time for tenants to leave their homes. She said the issue became apparent after many of her constituents contacted her. Curls said one Kansas City teacher had two kids in her class whose families faced foreclosure.

"One had to move immediately, the other had very short notice," she said.

If the bill becomes law, when a home is foreclosing , banks would have to give a ten day warning, in writing, to the tenant.

"We'll go out there and tell the tenants their house is being foreclosed, and then ten days later we can start the process in asking that they leave," said Tom Shimmens, vice president of Central Trust Bank. "We try to give them 30 days. It's pretty disruptive to a person."

The renter has to be current on their rent to receive this relief. The House and Senate passed the bill. It's now awaiting the governor's signature.

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