It's not a bad idea to check your new landlord’s references these days. Although the foreclosure filings were down this month compared to last month in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties in Florida, the numbers are still too high! Across America, foreclosures escalated by 6% and in Florida the numbers rose a whopping 14%!

With so many homes in foreclosure, more and more tenants are finding themselves homeless! While in most cases the problem has stemmed from home owners that purchased homes that have lessened in value, due to the mortgage crisis. These home owners set their rent at an amount that was equal to or more than their mortgage payments, but due to the rent prices being lowered to suit the economy, home owners are not able to cover their mortgage payments and are falling into foreclosure.

In some cases the tenant has been given a notice that the house has reached foreclosure status and has time to move out before the sheriff comes knocking on the door. But in many cases the tenant is not aware that their landlord has defaulted on their mortgage, until they find themselves homeless. Although, more often than not, the banks will list the tenants on the foreclosure notices, in order to prevent any delays in the paperwork.

Congress passed further relief to the tenants that are put in this predicament, by offering an option of staying in the home after foreclosure, but only if the home was backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Which is all good and well...except for the hundreds; even thousands of tenants that found themselves on the opposite end of the scale.

Be sure to proceed with caution when looking at rentals these days, you never know what kind of financial situation your new landlord may be in!