Recently moved into a house with my girlfriend. The house was kinda beat up but the "owner" had told us if we cleaned up the mess he'd knock a couple hundred of next months rent. So we already paid this guy a deposit and this months rent. We already moved in and got the water and electricity and gas on in our name as well as Wi-Fi. And already cleaned up a majority of the property. Come to find out that we been scammed cause some guy sent from the bank came and told us that the real owner of the house had recently passed away and the bank is trying to take back control of the house but at the moment the house is in "limbo" (according the what the guy from the bank said).
So my question is what should we do. And what rights do we have, if any?
Can they really just come and make us leave.
Were $2100+ into this house already and that just with the deposit and months rent. .
Please any help would be highly appreciated thank you all in advance.
I would contact your local large communities to see if you can locate such a clinic. Staff might intervene with the bank just to secure a place for you to live while searching for something more permanent and less uncertain. I'm not sure what other support could be offered, but it's worth exploring the options.
I really do hope you let us know how this situations progresses.
Rights: unfortunately, any lease or rental arrangement wouldn't be valid b/c the individual has no rights to the property.
The bank can and will force you to leave, but given the apparent "limbo", it may not be as nasty as some entities and force you out immediately. It depends, again, on whether this is a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure.
Money: Unless the police can locate the thief and you can file a small claims or similar suit, I'm not sure you can recover any of the funds you've expended. You could try to negotiate with the bank for the aspects of upgrading. Do you have receipts for this?
Not raised is the issue of finding somewhere else ASAP, and cancelling all the utilities for which you're now paying.
If there are issues that aren't clear to you, please feel free to let me know. (I got confused just writing this, so I can understand that someone might also be so in reading it!)
Errata: another thought. You might try to locate the family of the allegedly deceased former owner. They may be interested in keeping the house, or renting it, and may pay the arrearage (outstanding mortgage payments, and possibly taxes) on the house to do so. In that case, you might be able to stay until you can find something else, or even stay as a renter to the heirs of the property.
7. Exactly what does "trying to take back control of the house mean? " ( I understand this is not your characterization.) Banks provide default notices pursuant to terms of mortgages, then file foreclosure suits or other pleadings. I know nothing about CA foreclosures, but there will be records in what we here call the Register of Deeds Offices, which record all real property transactions.
8. I haven't worked on foreclosures at law forms since I retired, so the statutes may have changed. But typically, foreclosures are either through litigation (commercial property) or nonjudicial. You can find out which by checking the local recorder's office by property address, and determining which kind of foreclosure is in process (if it is), and the end date by which you might have to vacate. Nonjudicial foreclosures move more quickly than litigated suits. So you would have less time to relocate.
9. Be sure to provide information to the bank, b/c, as I've read, these scammers sometimes "sell" the same house to more than one person! Sometimes they also record false documents against the property.
10. Vacation of property. The bank may be a bit flexible, especially if the foreclosure is judicial (via lawsuit). Try to work with them, providing information, as they're going to have to ensure clean title before final foreclosure and eventual sale. The bank may let you stay until, say, a month or so before the foreclosure is effective.
11. The bank would typically have ordered a foreclosure report showing any and all encumbrances against the property, and it will get an update just before acquiring title. However, if this scammer is a pro criminal, he may have a multitude of houses being fixed up for free, and he may have recorded false documents against the property.
Then you know for sure that the alleged bank buy is for real. And more than likely, there's bank foreclosure department info (phone number, etc.) on the court filings. Verify that the guy who came out really is from the bank.
12. In addition, if there’s a pattern of fraud on property owned by recently deceased individual(s), it can establish a pattern that could help law enforcement officials.
13. You need to find out if the foreclosure is by notice only, or through litigation. Some states require litigation, which takes longer to process. You might be able to work out a rental arrangement, as well as an improvement compensation, during a litigated foreclosure.
14. You can also contact the foreclosure law firm handling the transaction, and make the attorney handling the foreclosure aware of the situation, so that hopefully the bank doesn't evict you until you can find another place.
I apologize for the somewhat disjointed procedure for you to follow; that sometimes happens when I write of multiple steps and potential actions that need to be addressed.
Some thoughts:
1. How did you pay the scammer? Cash? Check? If the latter, contact your bank, and if it's not too late, stop payment. If the check has already been cashed (more likely), inform the bank, just in case this scammer tries it again with someone else, although I suspect that this individual has a very well planned scam and uses a multitude of sources to cash checks.
2. Also provide as much information as you can get when you file a fraud report, with either the local or state police, or AG. The economic theory known as Multiplier Effect addresses the concept that funds are used by the receiver for other purchasers, and if so in this case, other expenditures the thief made aren't going to be based on legitimate money. These entities may also have fraud claims to file.
3. Find out from the local or state police if there's a fraud hotline for CA, and if this particular individual (who probably isn't using his real name) is listed. I doubt this is his first scam.
More verification to do:
You wrote:
"some guy sent from the bank came and told us that the real owner of the house had recently passed away and the bank is trying to take back control of the house but at the moment the house is in "limbo" (according the what the guy from the bank said)."
4. And before you get any farther, verify that the individual from the bank is legitimate. I seriously, very seriously, question whether a bank would send someone to a house under foreclosure. More likely, a realtor would be sent, but that's just based on my limited experience with residential foreclosures.
I'm not sure what "in limbo" means, unless it refers to a foreclosure that's been initiated but the applicable statutory time hasn't run. Or, it might mean there are complications with title, or something else going on.
5. BTW, you yourself can contact the local or county document registry and ask for a document check, to verify that a foreclosure action has been filed, but also to verify that the previous owner's death certificate has been recorded. You want to make sure the prior title holder is in fact deceased, as alleged.
Otherwise, that adds another dimension to the scam, and the poor owner may be in the hospital or some other facility and be unaware his house is being fraudulently used.
6. Exactly what does "trying to take back control of the house mean? " I understand this is not your characterization. Banks provide default notices pursuant to terms of mortgages, then file foreclosure suits or other pleadings. I know nothing about CA foreclosures, but there will be records in what we here call the Register of Deeds Offices, which record all real property transactions.
I realize that this response goes beyond your basic questions, but I think it would be helpful to you to know how foreclosure works, and what the limitations are.
The bank would typically have ordered a foreclosure report showing any and all encumbrances against the property, and it will get an update just before acquiring title. However, if this scammer is a pro criminal, he may have a multitude of houses being fixed up for free, and he may have recorded false documents against the property.
This could serve a twofold purpose: (1) provide data on the thief (2) verify that foreclosure has in effect been started.
We are actually a forum of Caregivers from all over the US, Canada, the UK and other countries. We really aren't the ones you should be asking this question of. Some lawyers will consult for free. There is also legal aid.
I would contact the police & the bank, but I'm sure the bank will make you leave.
What a rotten thing to do! I hope you get some justice.
If you have this person's legitimate name and address (and I highly doubt that you do) they might be able to trace him.
If this was an "on line" find you might also be able to report it and they should take this person's ads down.
Just a thought. Talk to the person that is from the bank. If the bank has contact with the owner's family you might want to ask if you can continue to rent and clean the place up so it will be ready for a sale in the future. Or if the bank owns the property they might want it occupied rather than vacant and they also would want it cleaned up a bit as well. It is taking a VERY long time to get properties through the court system and if they can avoid that it might be to their advantage. (house across the street from me has been in foreclosure for over 3 years and the family still lives there, paying no mortgage and no HOA fees and it is in "limbo" also)
Even the person at the door may have been an imposter with yet another scam. Contact the bank that the person supposedly works for.
In terms of you staying there, it’s a hard no. You have no contract with the current owner. Right now you are in essence “squatters”, and although squatters have rights, it’s not a comfortable place I’d want to be in.
I’m sorry this happened to you, especially so close to Christmas.