New Act Affects Investors & Tenants - Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

Repost with extras from GaHomesDigest.com

So you are home in Gwinnett County (the leading county for foreclosures in Georgia) from work relaxing watching re-runs of Friends and suddenly your front door is kicked open and a big burly man with a gun comes in, points the gun at you and claims that he's the sheriff. Sound like something out of the show COPS or maybe a move starring Johnny Depp, but no, it's actually becoming a common occurence in homes all over Georgia.

Now S. 896 "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009" has come out and has some provisions to protect tenants from eviction as a consequence of a foreclosure.

So what's in it for the tenants?

• 90 Days Notice will now have to be given before proceeding,
• Tenants with WRITTEN AGREEMENTS will be given the option to stay in the property as long as the lease is not significantly different than current market rent.

Tenants still have to move out in the case of the new owner wanting to use the home as a personal residence or if there is no written lease agreement. Tenants still can be evicted in the event they violate their written lease agreement.

So fast forward to the first Tuesday of next month.

This new act has the following potential impact on investors:

• Auction buyers now have to account for renters as part of their investment process, eviction, legal fees or keeping them.
  
• Auction buyer have to determine fair market value of the rent.

The difficulty will be getting written lease agreements before the auction date from the people getting foreclosed. ...

I could go on and on, but...