Renting a home in our valley is not what it used to be. Last month we showed you the man investigators say took advantage of people about to lose their homes. He also took advantage of renters.

The Secretary of State's Office says Matt Marlon promised people losing their homes to foreclosure he would take over their mortgage payments if they signed their property over to him.

He never made the payments and instead rented out those homes to unsuspecting renters. News 3 InvestigatorMitch Truswell has news for anyone who is, or will be, a renter.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

A lot of people renting homes have been taken advantage of. Unfortunately, they only learn this when a notice shows up on their door telling them they have hours to vacate.

There's a way to find out if the home you want to rent, or the one you're in now, is in foreclosure. You'll need three things: The address of the home, a computer and a little bit of time.

We found an ad for a home for rent on the popular www.craigslist.com. Is it in foreclosure? Here's how to find out:

You will need the property address. It was listed in the ad we looked at.
Go to the Clark County Assessor's website.
There are three options to search a property. Since we only know the address, we'll do an address search.
After filling out the information it comes back with not only the owner's name, which is good for a renter to know, but the parcel number. Write this number down.
Take the parcel number and go to the Clark County Recorder's Site. You'll be doing an advanced search. Click on Advanced Search and then enter the parcel number, minues the dashes. You should find the documents.

Jill Willis, with the Clark County Recorder's Office, showed us one home with the default listing. According to Willis, renters are getting the back news on a daily basis. "They're coming in and stating they had a notice on their door, or they're being asked to leave or some have come home with a padlock on their door and they're coming in suddenly to find out who is the owner of this property and why is it in foreclosure."

The two things you want to watch out for are Notice of Default or Notice of Breach. Different lending agencies will use different terms.

Willis says once the lender files the paperwork it will show up on the Recorder's website within 24 hours. It really makes sense if you're a home renter to take a couple of minutes and do this. Every day renters in this valley are being told they have to move out. And it's better to know sooner than later.

Discuss Story On Newsvine
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh
Email
Instant Message
Print