Connecticut AG Fires Warning Shot At Lawyers, Lenders, Real Estate Agents Using Sleazy Tactics To Illegally Drive Tenants From Foreclosed Homes

In Hartford, Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reports:

• New state and federal laws passed last year are supposed to protect renters in foreclosed properties from getting tossed out with little or no notice. But the state attorney general and legal aid lawyers said Monday there is strong evidence that those laws are being violated — and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tenants have been pressured to leave sooner than legally required. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he has sent warnings to 30 law firms, real estate agencies, banks and loan servicers — urging them to follow the law or face further legal action.(1)

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• The federal law [the Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act] gives tenants 90 days to move out of a foreclosed property or until the end of their lease, whichever is later. The tenants must be current on their rent. A state law, also passed last year, gives those doing the foreclosing the option of offering $2,000 or double the security deposit to the tenant to move out sooner, the so-called "cash for keys" program.

For more, see Blumenthal: Laws Protecting Tenants Are Violated.

See also:

• Connecticut AG press release, see Attorney General Warns Law Firms, Banks and Real Estate Companies To Stop Illegal Evictions,
• New Haven Independent: Blumenthal Puts Bankers, Lawyers On Notice.

(1) In coordination with legal assistance attorneys, Blumenthal has sent cease-and-desist letters to at least 30 companies that may have engaged in eviction practices that violate the Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act, his press release states. Blumenthal is notifying the companies of their legal obligations and requesting that they follow this federal law. Blumenthal was joined at a press conference this week by legal aid lawyers from New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Greater Hartford Legal Aid, Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut, Connecticut Legal Services and Statewide Legal Services, as well as tenants who have faced unlawful evictions.

For a copy of the statute, see Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009.