Progress IL: Englewood Renters Left Without Electricity, Gas Due To Foreclosure: 'We Were Left In The Dark'

This is a very unfortunate story. Unless you follow real estate you may not realize that foreclosures is still affecting people almost five or so years after they really became headline news. We can talk about people who own homes that they couldn't afford, but let's bear in mind there are foreclosed properties involving renters. We take a look at the couple above Shantisha & Ezekiel Shaw whose family are exactly in that situation.

The Shaw’s landlord was foreclosed upon last year and Freedom Mortgage Corp. took over the deed for the building on December 14, as indicated by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

But neither Shantisha, nor her husband, Ezekiel Shaw, said they were notified the building was being foreclosed upon. They said they were not given a 90-day notice to vacate, nor were they provided any instructions indicating where they should send their monthly $550 rent — which includes utilities — following the foreclosure.

The Shaws say they were not provided with any landlord or contact information pertaining to who would be responsible for maintaining the property after the foreclosure.

“We’ve been left in the dark, literally,” said Ezekiel, 45. “What are we supposed to do?”
...
In February the Shaws received an eviction notice from Pierce & Associates, a leading Chicago-based foreclosure law firm.

“Demand is hereby made upon you for immediate surrender of possession of the above premises,” the February 4 letter, identifying Pierce & Associates as attorneys for Freedom Mortgage, states.

“But we don’t have any money, I don’t know what they expect us to do,” said Shantisha.

I don't want to excerpt more from this article, but you should read the whole thing. We should bear in mind one thing when it comes to foreclosures. Banks do not want to be landlords, they have to maintain the properties they have to take.

I'm not sure of the entire situation involving the Shaws, but there's a problem if they're making this family leave their building because they don't want to be landlords and therefore responsible for maintaining this property. The Shaws had also reported that their utilities were shut off who knows if it's because the company that took over their property did it to make them move. Also recognize that if true shutting off utilities or other actions to make people leave a property is called "constructive eviction" and it's an illegal practice.

Anyway, I'm curious what everyone thinks of this story.