renters beware!

I generally like to think I live a charmed life. My concerns usually consist of:

Work: Why does the printer hate me?
Family: Is everyone safe?
Friends: Where are we going tonight?
Money: When do I get paid again?

I watch the news, but to be perfectly honest, I find that most of the national and even local news has little direct effect on me (other than the $50 it costs me to fill up my gas tank).

Two weeks ago my roommates and I started receiving letters in our landlords name from about a dozen banks, mortgage companies, and lawyers. I had heard about landlords failing to pay mortgages, and I decided to do a little investigating.

Upon googleing our address, I found out that our house was being foreclosed on and set to be auctioned at the Courthouse this past Thursday, where it was sold back to the lender.

In retrospect, I think I would have benefited from reading this article in the Baltimore Business Journal, which outlines the rate at which renters are being evicted from their homes due to unforeseen foreclosures. Perhaps, then I would have been privy to my current situation.

So for the time being my roommates and I are living in limbo and fighting to get back our last month of rent and deposits. Hmm, I could have sworn this was the exact reason we decided to rent and not own in the first place.

--faith