After going through some foreclosure listings at the county courthouse, we went to look at some of the properties. Three out of four still had someone living in them. If I won the bid on one of those, would I have to go through the eviction process? Why didn’t the bank/mortgage company already evict them?
I’m definitely a newbie.
I am no foreclosure expert, two I bought were both empty, and one, the people were in the process of moving at the sale date. The foreclosure is not final until the sale happens, so the banks really can’t do anything until it is final. You will find that on a typical sale day if 50 properties go up, 15 or 20 will be cancelled or postponed.
Once it is sold at the sale it is the buyers problem, to evict them. The laws are different in each location but I assume it is similar to evicting a renter. I had a friend who talked to the people when he bought one, and they ended up staying and renting it from him. How they could pay the rent and not the mortgage I don’t know, but they did for 18 months.
If no one buys it at the auction the banks will start the eviction process and try to get it sold.
Yes, you are responsible for evicting them. The process is different than evicting them for a rental so do your research before hand. It can be very sad if a renter is living there and they have no idea that house was in foreclosure, I actually saw this happen.
Either way - don’t worry.
Evicting in Texas is rather easy I have learned.
Checkout: http://www.jp.hctx.net/evictions/filing.htm and also call your local Justice Of The Peace. They can guide you through the whole process over the phone & explain any fees you’ll have to pay. It’s far easier than I thought…and Texas is very pro-landlord compared to many other states.