System alerts renters if home is in foreclosure

TAMPA – April 6, 2009 – Hundreds of thousands of renters nationwide are at risk of being evicted, even though they’ve never missed a rent payment.

Most don’t find out until the police arrive to evict them after the home is lost in foreclosure.

So RealtyTrac, the California-based company that sells foreclosure information to investors, is launching a new system, RealtyTrac Renter Alerts. For $25 a year, a renter can have their address monitored.

Some landlords collect rent even though they’re not paying the mortgage. Under RealtyTrac’s system, as soon as the mortgage enters into default in the court system, the renter would be notified by e-mail.

The site also lets renters research properties to make sure they aren’t already in foreclosure.

Company executives say states such as Florida could benefit the most from such a system because the foreclosure rate is so high.

The Sunshine State had the fourth-highest foreclosure rate among all states in February, and the Tampa Bay area ranked 28th among the country’s metro areas for its filings, RealtyTrac said.

Florida’s foreclosure activity – default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions – increased 43 percent from February 2008.

The company’s renter Web site is at www.renter.realtytrac.com.

Copyright © 2009 Tampa Tribune, Fla., Shannon Behnken. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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