New law may help tenants facing eviction

 HARLINGEN - A new federal law provides protection to tenants of foreclosed rental properties and may help apartment dwellers such as those on Sonesta Drive and Sonesta Circle who received eviction notices last week.

President Obama signed a new law, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, on May 20, attorney Robert Doggett, of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in Austin, said Wednesday.

The law states that valid leases continue from one landlord to another if a property is foreclosed upon, as long as the tenant stays current with rental payments, Doggett said.

"The purchaser at foreclosure has to honor the lease agreement," Doggett said. If a lease has expired, the tenant now has 90 days to find a new home, rather than 30 days under Texas law.

Tenants at the Sonesta apartments were given notices that didn't even allow 30 days, according to copies provided to the Valley Morning Star by tenants.

Doggett said he would have to know when foreclosures were filed to determine whether the Sonesta tenants are covered by the new federal law.

John Sanchez, of "For Rent Inc., The Property Management Company," said his contract with the owners has expired and he doesn't now whether the foreclosure has been filed yet or when it was filed. He declined to name the owners.

The notices he provided to tenants last week gave them until July 5 to move out, if they wished to have their deposits refunded.

Doggett said the notices don't even comply with the old state law.

"He has to give them their deposits anyway," Doggett said. Typically, landlords are reluctant to refund damage deposits even if tenants fulfill all their requirements, he said.

But Sanchez said Wednesday he was just trying to help the tenants.

"My contract is up with them (owners of Sonesta apartments)," he said. I had these other apartments. I might as well move them into a place where the grass is cut and, if the air conditioning breaks, we can fix it."

Sanchez said last week that, not only was he refunding deposits for the remaining tenants at Sonesta, he was giving them free utilities and first month's rent at newer apartments nearby with comparable rents.

"I wasn't aware of this law," he said of the new law signed in May.

Doggett said very few people, including judges, are aware of the new law.

"We're getting calls from (justices of the peace) and (mortgage) lenders," he said of the Legal Aid office in Austin.

The only situation in which a tenant with a valid lease and paid-up rent can be evicted within 90 days under the new law is if the buyer actually plans to occupy the property as his or her own residence, Doggett said. That is rarely the case, especially with apartments, he said.

But the only way tenants can get protection from the new federal law is to get help from an attorney or possibly show a copy of the law to a justice of the peace at an eviction hearing, Doggett said.

Low-income people can visit a local legal aid office or possibly try to get a lawyer's help through the Cameron County Pro Bono Project.