Legal Aid is looking for renters facing eviction from foreclosed properties

You’re up-to-date on your rent. You haven’t done anything wrong. So why should you be kicked out on the street just because your landlord fell behind on the mortgage?

According to
Gregg Lombardi, the Executive Director of Legal Aid of Western Missouri, almost one in every four foreclosures in Kansas City is on a rental property. A new law requires lenders who foreclose on rental properties to give their tenants at least 90 days to move out — or even longer, in some cases.

Word on the street, though, is that some lenders aren’t complying with the new law. It was designed to protect renters, but lenders can still get away with unlawful evictions if renters aren’t aware of their rights.

Lombardi sent out an e-mail this week to the heads of charitable organizations all over Kansas City, asking that they encourage people who think they may be unlawfully forced out of foreclosed rental properties to call Legal Aid for help. “We are eager to take on cases to stop these unlawful evictions,” Lombardi wrote in the email.

Anyone who may be facing eviction from a rental property as a result of foreclosure can call Legal Aid’s intake line at 816-474-6750. Legal Aid also handles other rental eviction cases and other renters

who believe they are being unlawfully evicted should call as well. Lombardi says he can’t guarantee that his organization will be able to represent every caller, “but we will do our best to represent as many as we can.”