Banks' Bullying Tactics Used To Carry Out Illegal Foreclosure Evictions On Tenants, Say D.C. Housing Counselors

In Washington, D.C., United Press International reports:

• Some banks are using aggressive eviction tactics to push Washington tenants out of their homes as the foreclosure crisis widens, housing counselors say. [...] Housing counselors in the District of Columbia said that tenant buyouts and evictions are becoming more prevalent as banks begin to take over more multi-unit properties.

• “In part it may be that banks don't know the city’s unique tenant laws,” said Farah Fosse, director of affordable housing preservation at the Latino Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit group that offers housing counseling services to D.C. residents. [... T]heDistrict of Columbia has strong tenant protection laws and it is illegal for property owners to evict tenants due to foreclosure.(1)

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• "Lenders aren't in the business to own real estate and certainly aren't in the business to manage properties,” said Marian Siegal, executive director at Housing Counseling Services, a Housing and Urban Development-approved counseling organization based in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington. "As a result we're starting to see not only the owners displacing tenants but also the banks displacing tenants illegally," said Siegal.

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• Fosse said that some of the banks are changing locks on tenants and sending incorrect information to tenants to persuade them to leave. “Some banks are doing really shady things to get people out like turning off utilities when they know there's a tenant there,” said Fosse.

For more, see Banks bully D.C. renters out of foreclosed buildings.

(1) According to the story, the District of Columbia Rental Housing Act of 1985 states that when a rental property is foreclosed on, financial institutions become the new landlord but there is no change in the tenant's rights. This is a problem for banks, which prefer a quick sale to long-term property management, housing counselors say. For more on tenants' rights in the District of Columbia, see:

• Tenant's Guide to Safe and Decent Housing (for tenants in Washington, D.C.),
• What Every D.C. Renter Should Know.