Tenants are being evicted because their landlords are collecting rents but not paying the mortgage on the home.  Some sellers legitimately can’t afford the negative cash flow, however they are keeping and pocketing the rent and not paying the bank anything.  This practice may violate the terms of the mortgage, and forces the bank to foreclose on the home, leaving the tenant homeless.

To make matters worse, we just have to wonder whether the landlord has followed the law and placed the last months rent and security deposit into a separate Florida bank account for safe keeping. 

Tenants have been calling our office looking for a place to rent or buy.  Some tenants in SW Florida are taking the opportunity to buy at better prices now that the real estate market has corrected.  Not all tenants are in a position to take advantage of the buying opportunities due to credit issues, so they are forced to move quickly to another rental home.  Moving can be costly, so it pays to make sure your future landlord is financially stable and will pay the mortgage.  Ironically, it has been landlords who have done credit checks on potential tenants before deciding to rent to them.  We may see a day when tenants also do a mortgage check to make sure the landlord is financially making the payments.  Talk about a turn of events.