Can my landlord start eviction process and garnish wages from my husband's paycheck for not paying july's rent?

[cadby]

This is our situation. We started renting this house since jan. 2012. From the beginning we asked our landlord if he was facing sone sort of morgage payment problems cause we didnt have to go thru a process of moving once more since that was our reason of why we move places in the first cuase our previous landlord was going thru all that and wasnt communicating wirh us. Now we got a call from him in may, telling us how he was going thru a loan modification and we would be receiving mail about them. For us just to ignore them. June comes and the next thing we know, there is foreclosure notice posted on our door where it says the house will be auctioned june 14 2012 at 9am. We asked him and he just said it was a mistake and that he needed to sell the house by the 19th of july 2012. That we needed to whether buy it or get out if the house got sold by then. So i keept asking what would happened if worse case scenerio i cant get approved, if i would get my deposit back. Didnt get an answer until this month of july when i asked him if he can give us a document or something where it shows that he is still the owner and its just a loan modification that he is doing and wont be kicked out anytime soon. He told me he cant show me anything, i would have to take his word for it and to relax, that we wont be put on the streets, cause he is doing loan modification thats all. Well we received a voicemail where he says he is going to start eviction process this monday july 9 2012. Then we would have to move out within 7 days and he will start to garnish money from my husband s wages and he will make our credit affect us drastictly. So either pay monday or get out and start garnish. This is our first time not paying our rent. For the past 5 months we have paid on time. Im not refusing to pay it. I have the money but i want to be sure that we arent getting kicked out soon. We have 2 small children and im not risking to be kicked out with out any money for deposit towards another place and stuff. Can he start doing that right away just by being 5days late and asking for proof???? Please help i dont know what to do!! I live in the state of michigan by the way if it makes in difference state from state.

[caspar99]

You breached your are in breach of your lease contract if you refuse to pay rent for any given month if your lease says you are required to pay monthly. Eviction proceedings are based on state law, but if you refuse to leave the property and fail to make monthly payments, then your landlord would be required to file a judicial eviction action in order to have your family and personal items removed from the property. You may, however, have defenses you can raise in the legal action such as habitability arguments if the property was not up to code. You can call someone to inspect the property and if there are habitability issues (e.g. roaches everywhere, existing not permitted construction like an illegal subdivision, or other unsafe living conditions) then you may be entitled to a settlement, but most courts will require you to pay your rent and your landlord's legal expenses if he wins in court. If you just plane don't feel like paying rent, then go to the pet store and buy a bag full of roaches and dump them in the kitchen, take photos, and then send your landlord a certified mail letter demanding that he cure the issue or threaten to start your own legal action for Habitability. That may buy you several months rent free. Watch the movie Pacific Heights with Michael Keaton to get the idea.

With regard to your landlord's standing as owner of the property, you made mention that he was attempting a loan modification with the bank. You also mentioned that he was given a deadline to sell the house. You also mentioned that the house is in foreclosure and that a sale was scheduled for 06/14/2012. You can check the county records to find out if a Foreclosure Deed of Sale has been recorded. If so, your landlord still may have an ownership interest and be able to work out a deal with the bank to rescind the foreclosure sale, but it all depends on the state in which the property is located. Regardless, if you continue to pay rent in accordance with your lease, you cannot be evicted. My recommendation is that you pay the rent regardless of your landlord's current ownership interest. If he no longer has an ownership interest, the you will likely be visited by a bank representative regarding your status as a tenant of the property. You will simply have to show that you are performing under the lease agreement and that you will continue to do so with whom ever is the owner of the property. As long as you are performing under the lease agreement, you cannot be evicted.

In what state is the property located?

[larry]

If you don't pay rent, he can evict you. That is always true. Whether or not he has a financial issue does NOT allow you to withhold rent.

[gwynethpaltrow8]

Yes because of breach of contract.

[leonie36]

It's not legal here In Canada so I wouldn't think it would be there.

[tonibraxton]

Obviously you can be evicted for the non-payment, you are not entitled to live there and not pay rent. You ARE refusing to pay the rent, it is in your account, not where is belongs.

He can only garnish your wages after you are evicted. Once you are evicted you will still owe all of the rent, as well as the legal costs of removing you. If you do not pay the judgment within 30 days THEN he can garnish wages. He is entitled to 25% of your gross income, and 12% interest on the stolen income until he is whole again. He can also just seize bank accounts.

I have no clue where you got the idea you could use his money to move, but that is really screwed up. YOU pay for your move, not your landlord.

[cinnard]

Even a foreclosure would not put out on the streets. You have a lease and whoever owns it has to honor the lease or pay you a premium to move out. Pay your rent or you can get evicted and the COURT not the landlord garnishees your wages! When a court does it, it looks real bad when YOUR boss gets the garnishee notice! Many employers start looking for ways to fire people who cause them difficulty. The employer has to send part of your pay to the court every month.