I've been showing a lot of property lately and I've been
noticing an alarming trend over the past few months. More frequently than ever, the homes I'm
showing my
clients are short sales, but with a twist.
They're currently being rented by people who are paying rent to a property
owner who is no longer paying their mortgage!
Some of them wish they could move out but they're afraid they will lose
their security deposit (which is probably already gone) or will be given a bad
reference if they stop paying their rent to the owner. Many of them are upset that they signed a
lease without being told that the owner was in foreclosure or had a notice of
lis pendens filed against them. I read an
article this morning in the Washington Post that described how this
situation is become a disturbing nationwide trend.
An
experienced local Realtor knows their way around the Brevard County
Property Appraiser and the Brevard Clerk of Courts like the back of their hand
or their own home. We know how to find
out who has a notice of lis pendens filed against them and who is currently
being foreclosed on. In short, we can
tell someone who is looking for a home to rent whether or not they're likely to find
themselves in this kind of a situation if they rent certain property.
However, many people looking for rental homes turn to Craigslist or other websites before they
turn to an experienced local
Realtor. I think it goes without
saying that I wish they would call
me instead :) However, since I know many
people aren't likely to, I'm going to pass on a quick tutorial on how to do a
preliminary check on a property if you're thinking about renting without a
Realtor looking out for you.
Step 1: Go to the Brevard County Property
Appraiser site.
Step 2: Click on the Property Research button in the upper
right corner
Step 3: Scroll down and accept the terms (you have to if you
want access).
Step 4: There will be several boxes with drop down
menus. Click on the down arrow for the
first menu. Click on Property
Address. Click on the 'Go' button to the
right of the drop down menu.
Step 5: Input the property address and the house number.
Step 6: Click on Run Search.
Step 7: Click on the seven digit number for the correct
property.
Step 8: You now have
the record for the property and the owner.
(Note: this information is not always current to the day. If an owner has purchased the property
recently, the old owner may show in the record.
An experienced Realtor will know other ways to verify this information
for you.)
Step 9: Open a new window in your browser.
Step 10: Go to the Brevard
Clerk of the Court site. You're
almost half way through!
Step 11: Under the Public Records header, you'll find
'Official Records' as a choice about half way down the column. Click on it.
Step 12: Click on the orange box that says 'Search January 1981
- present'
Step 13: Input the owners name from Step 8. Make sure you follow the proper syntax (no
spaces between last and first name) or you won't get the information you're
looking for.
Step 14: Click on
'Search Records'
Step 15: You'll have
to search through the records that are pulled.
Look for key words such as 'lis pendens' or 'foreclosure'. If you find anything with those words, read
it carefully and proceed with renting that property with caution (or don't rent
it at all!).
Step 16: Do it for
each property you're interested in. Fun,
huh? :)
Step 17: When you
realize the process isn't as easy as you thought it would be, call an experienced local Realtor. The Realtor won't cost you a penny (the owner
pays our commission for finding a tenant) and they'll do all of the work for
you! Good deal, isn't it?
These steps are in no way a comprehensive way to determine
whether or not a property is or is not likely to be in foreclosure while you're
renting it. It is just one way an experienced local Realtor
can make that determination and it's my hope that by sharing this with
everyone, at least one or two people will be able to avoid a difficult and
frustrating situation. Realtors are
guided by and bound to a strict code of ethics, but a property owner who is
advertising a property for rent isn't. Before
you rent your next property, remember to use caution, do your research, and if
in doubt, consult an
experienced local Realtor!
To search the Brevard MLS for a rental property, click
here.
Click on 'Rentals' in the header menu