LI renters on losing end in foreclosures

Last month, three days before Thanksgiving, a Lindenhurst family rushed to Frank Dell'Accio Jr.'s real estate office, saying they were given four days to move because the landlord had recently gone into foreclosure.

In Port Washington, real estate broker Heidi Spellman said that two weeks after her client paid about $27,000 in security deposits and fees to rent a Port Washington property, she saw an open house scheduled there.

Spellman called the listing agent: "I said, 'What do you mean you have an open house? We have a fully executed lease. The people are moving in from Venezuela.' She said 'Oh we're having a short-sale open house . . . because the house is going into foreclosure.' "

That was two years ago, when the fallout from the mortgage mess was still unfolding and Spellman's office began checking whether properties were in the foreclosure process before taking renters there. Now, both firms are doing something to protect renters.

Spellman's office began two years ago checking whether properties were in the foreclosure process before taking renters there. This January, Dell'Accio began asking landlords with space to sign statements saying they were not in foreclosure.

Over the past couple of years, some tenants have been suddenly forced to find new homes because the property has been foreclosed and sold without their knowledge. Early this year a state law began requiring lenders to notify renters of a foreclosure case and mandated that new owners give tenants at least a 90-day eviction notice.

But because the state's foreclosure process can take more than two years, tenant evictions became a bigger issue only in the past year, said Dell'Accio, president of the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

But other area agents said it's unnecessary to raise foreclosure questions because they trust their landlord clients and know the local market.

Rosie Bozza, who specializes in rentals at Above Board Real Estate in Amityville, said she checks properties online and with the town, especially when a lease exceeds six months.

But if there's a problem, refunding renters' fees, often one month's rent, can be a thorny matter. Spellman said she refunded her fees to her client, who could not get back his two months' security and one month's rent from the landlord.

Dell'Accio said he doubts there will be an industry policy on the issue because each case is different. And though he found his displaced renters a new home by Dec. 1, he said he shows only his listings instead of other agencies' offerings.

"I hesitate going after other listings now because I don't know what they did or didn't do," he said.