Out without warning

"When Phavone received the sheriff's notice of impending eviction a month earlier, she'd thought it was an attempt to track someone down about an unpaid bill. She didn't recognize the name on the document..."

Return service or certified mail of some sort is so much bother?
An inquiry with BGE to see who's name is on the bill?

"Somebody convinced those bankers of a completely counterintuitive proposition, namely the property you now own is going to be more valuable when it's vacant,..."

Kafkaesque.

Why can't renters take care of their properties?

I think that both of the previous comments obviously missed the point of the article. I don't blame Phavone at all for being out of the loop. I can't necessarily say that I would have thought to investigate the matter any further myself. I live a busy life - as I am sure Phavone does as well - and I would have returned the letter to the post office marked return to sender.

People must we really be this cold and uncompassionate? This woman was told that she only had a week to move and find a new place to live. On top of all that she may never see her security deposit. She seems like a hard working woman who was dependable and reliable and who fell victim to an unscrupulous landlord, who should have had the common decency to notify Phavone earlier of the situation.

There has to be a special place in hell for landlords who do this to innocent tenants.

People work, pay their bills, do the right thing, and find themselves homeless.

If there isn't a law against this - there should be.

Nothing really changes does it? Thieves continue to ply their trade, sounds like the old weinberg days!

Were is the Mayor and the govenor they should both take immediate steps to make tenats aware of this. Once again they fail the common people

If the American Civil Liberties Union isn't on top of this, it ought to be.

This is a messed up situation. The former landlord should be in jail for collecting the rent he was not entitled to. I am not sure what we can do in a situation as much as Ms. Phavone. She did nothing wrong. The former landlord is a crook. Pure and simple. Once he lost the property, he should have notified her.

Is there somewhere that people in this situation, tenants in good standing, can get matched up with good landlords that have good properties for rent? I would like to contact her about a property my bestfriend owns...I know what it is like to be in her situation. Being homeless is no fun.

I can't imagine a landlord doing this to a tenant. It is just unimaginable to me. I always hear stories of tenants from hell, this takes the cake on landlords from hell.

I feel sorry for this woman.

I think the bank should be forced to notify all tenants 3 months prior to eviction in cases like this.

Any rent paid to the former owner once he lost the property should be returned to renter.

I can not believe that someone could read this story and only be concerned with a perceived unkempt lawn. Firstly, the grass does not appear overgrown. Secondly, where is the concern for the people who were being told to get out immediately. This woman met her obligation and because of the lack of decency on the part of the landlord, who by the way continued to accept her rent payment for the nine months when he was not paying his mortgage, is now potentially on the streets.

And no one, including Mr. Mow the Grass or Mr. Trace the Letter, or Big Bank, really gives a damned. Think I will go back to bed to nurse the headache that I developed after reading this story.

This is just another example of laws written to protect business and unscrupolous investors versus hard working citizens. We already have examples of houses being taken for ground rent. This is just another example where you play by the rules and you lose any way. The law should state that a person stays in the property as long as the lease is in effect and the rent is paid on time. The company or investor that bought the property should have to go after the initial owner to collect damages; not the unsuspecting renter. It seems like the only person that gets off is the person that caused the problem.

Why, Ms. Hopkins, are the names of Phavone's landlords not in this story? If they wouldn't talk, a simple "they had no comment" is in order. To not name them here is to protect them. And what was their deal? How long did they own this house, and how much did they pay, and what kind of interest rate on how big a loan did they get? If the rent should have covered their nut, you should tell us. If not, you should tell us that, to illustrate the stupidity of some "investors."

I rented a house several years ago and there was two mortgages on the home. I paid my rent on time each month and one day got a call from one of the banks telling me I had 30days to move or to buy the house. I didn't want to move in 30 days so I scrambled to find the money to buy the house at a very sweet price directly from the bank. Seems to me that these banks should call people and offer them to buy. It just might increase home ownership and avoid all the incumbent headaches in foreclosure and auction process. Give people a chance just don't throw them out. Wake up politicians. Maybe the route should be mandated to offer the home to the renter first.

These lenders dont want to help the renter or anybody for that reason. Someone giving a a person a week is not helping anyone. This is just a transfer of wealth.

Perhaps the landlord should be summarily kicked out of his/her own house and the displaced tenants could move in, living rent-free for as long a period as they have paid rent to a non-mortgage-paying landlord.

"Phavone's cousin and his wife, who were visiting, answered the knock with bewildered looks."

"Visiting"

Yea, how many families were living in the home anyway?

Did anyone that lived there notice the 2 foot of grass on the front yard?

Danielle wrote:

I think that both of the previous comments obviously missed the point of the article. I don't blame Phavone at all for being out of the loop. I can't necessarily say that I would have thought to investigate the matter any further myself. I live a busy life - as I am sure Phavone does as well - and I would have returned the letter to the post office marked return to sender.
People must we really be this cold and uncompassionate? This woman was told that she only had a week to move and find a new place to live. On top of all that she may never see her security deposit. She seems like a hard working woman who was dependable and reliable and who fell victim to an unscrupulous landlord, who should have had the common decency to notify Phavone earlier of the situation.

I wonder if she could contact the lender and take over the loan. I doubt that the house is worth the mortgage that is on it, so that could be a win-win for the bank a Phavone.

ACCORDING TO BALTIMORE CITY LAND RECORDS The owners/ landlords of the property were Katherine A. West and Leif Colon.

The property was conveyed to Katherine A. West and Leif Colon on 10/03/05 for $171,000, by deed Fmc 7212/550

The new owner(bank) is:
NEW YORK BANK
C/O MAIL STOP PTX-C-35
7105 CORPORATE DRIVE
PLANO TX 75024

Camacho.....what does it matter who was living in the house or how high the grass was. What happened to this family is terrible. There should be some laws put in place to deal with these landlords.