Comments about ‘West Jordan renter without water and options after landlord stopped paying bill’

Much easier to just connect a garden hose to the neighbors home and to your home. You can actually use the neighbors water this way. The water pressure is not as good but it still works. Might be a temporary solution.

It seems to me if the owner has the right to quit paying the mortgage, and be able to save to take care of their needs, then they should somehow by law have to give the same notice to the renter. This story is just wrong of how our country is headed.

If the renter can afford to pay her rent each month on time, she should be able to come up with the water payment by using the rent money she would have paid the landlord. She can still continue to live in the house and save the rent each month to allow her to move. In addition, if the bank forecloses, it might pay her money to move out after the foreclosure is completed.

We had two homes foreclosed (in-a-row)that we had been renting (on a lease option). We were able to save our rent for about six months in the first case which gave us a decent down payment for the second. We were smarter with the second and saw the signs earlier that the landlord was not paying the mortgage. We began putting rent in escrow and told him we would pay him when the mortgage was current. After foreclosure on the second home, the bank offered us $3,000.00 if we would move within 30 days instead of 90. That plus the eight months of rent we had saved sure gave us a good down-payment on our new house.

It takes several months of non-payment for a landlord to evict a tenant. The renters in this article could pay the water bill off (so they would have some water) instead of paying rent. Then save the rent they owe for the next few months for moving expenses.

When rental property is resisted as rental property and taxed as rental property doesn't that give renters some rental rights of notifications and actions against their lease or contract? If property is register as rental then the owner is obligated to renter and the renter should notify the bank as a claimant for rental funds the owner fraudulently took from the renter.

For sure though, do not pay any more rent to the owner or the bank unless the bank agrees to pay the outstanding water bill and other utilities the owner was paying. There could even be some delinquent taxes on the property. For the renter though, this is a prime opportunity to save all the rent to use as moving expenses to a new unit.

the only thing landlords care about is getting your check at the end of the month

Hey Gizmo...I'm a landlord who was compassionate and understanding when one of my tenants ran into problems. And she left me holding the bag for about $8,000 in unpaid rent and damages to the property. I'm sympathetic to the woman in this story, but nobody ever wants to hear about it when the landlord's taken advantage of by conniving renters who know all too well how to play the system. The eviction laws heavily favor tenants and ought to be amended to protect business people (investors) who play by the rules. It works both ways Gizmo...both ways.

Mandatory 5 year prison sentence and all the landlords property sold at public auction to pay for the trouble this has caused for the renter. The landlord has an affirmative duty to give the renter what they have paid for. This landlord is a criminal and should be punished severely for the trouble caused.

How hard is it? Stop paying rent, pay the water bill and after 90 days, you've saved $2200. Then move. Somehow running to the news is going to make your situation better? No.

where is the boyfriend? Is he helping with the situation or free loading on her.

I can only speak to Arizona law, but here are a few points to consider: Arizona passed a law that protects renters in this situation, giving them 30 days to leave, Utah needs to look into a similar law, it doesn't hurt landlords, it just requires them to notify the tenents; here, if you fail to pay rent, you are given 5 days notice, then 3 days until the eviction hearing, then, unless you caught up on the rent, you are OUT (in days not months). Here, shutting off utilities on rented property (by the landlord through non-payment or any other reason, without a court order)leaves the landlord liable for treble the rent in damages. The neighbor cannot legally provide water since they are not a water company. It appears that the landlord is probably in a lot of trouble for not following the law on rental properties.

There is also the problem that the landlord may be broke. Even if the renter sues, there may not be any way to collect. Someone from legal services should be getting involved to assist in this case, and the legislature should take note. This is a recurring problem everywhere.

This just happened to me in Virginia less than a month ago. I contacted a lawyer and he told me that there was a federal law passed a year or two ago that obligates the new owner to honor the lease if you want to stay after the foreclosure until such time as the property is resold. When it is resold, the new owner must also honor the lease unless they plan on using the property for a primary residence. In that case they have to give you 30-90 days as the gentlemen above posted depending on the situation.

When the foreclosure went through on our apartment, the bank called us up and offered us nearly $4,000.oo to move out by a certain date. Which we were told is very common in situations like this. We of course gladly accepted. Long story short, this girl is likely to be fine and may even come out a little on top. We luckily had the utilities in our name, so we didn't have the water issues.

For correct and up to date information on renters' rights under Protecting at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) please visit Utah Housing Coalition Web site. The DesNews site won't let me have the URL address in my comment section.
The mission of the Utah Housing Coalition is to be the leader in housing issues and to promote the increase of accessible, affordable housing statewide. We will achieve our mission through education, advocacy, and cooperative partnerships.