Advocates want renter protection as part of bill

0 Comments | New Haven Register, Jun 29, 2010 | by Angela Carter

By Angela Carter Register Staff acarter@newhavenregister.com

As the financial services industry awaits final language in the federal reform bill, housing advocates are wondering if tenant protections will be extended by the legislation.

The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, mandates that renters be given 90 days notice before they must leave a property, and in many cases, provides that they may remain for the entire term of the lease.

PTFA is set to expire at the end of 2012, but language in the Wall Street reform legislation would keep it alive through the close of 2014.

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released a report this month showing that tenants continue to be forced out on short notice and threatened with eviction by the new property owner in a foreclosure sale.

The center was a leading advocate for PTFA and according to its research, legislatures in 21 states this year considered bills that would strengthen protections for renters.

In November 2008, a law went into effect in Connecticut that freezes or prohibits eviction proceedings at foreclosed properties until 60 days after a buyer’s new title takes effect or the expiration of the lease, whichever is later.

A “cash for keys” law went into effect the same month in the state, which allows the new owner to offer financial incentives to tenants for moving out quickly, with stipulations on the value of the offer. The General Assembly this year did not pass a bill that would have set a $2,000 minimum for move-out incentives and would have codified as state law certain sections of PTFA.

Under Connecticut law, the report said, Section 8 leases may survive foreclosure and a court may order eviction as part of a foreclosure proceeding only if the tenants are party to the action.

“Renters are losing their homes through no fault of their own. … Laws like the (PTFA), when properly implemented and enforced, are essential to preventing renters from becoming homeless,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the center
foreclosure law