Helping a tenant in a foreclosed property

[Colleen Sheridan]

I am trying to help an elderly (70 year old) gentleman purchase the property where he is a tenant. He has lived there forever and did not know the property was being foreclosed until a truck showed up one day to tell him they were there to clear the building and lock it up. It nearly gave him a heart attack. He called me, I found out who had sent them (the broker on behalf of the lender) and told them that Mr. B would call the police if they touched one item of his stuff. They left. I spoke to the broker, who had never seen the property and didn't even know the three family home had two rent paying tenants (one a section 8 disabled minority) and got nowhere with him. Finally, I tracked down the lender, American Home Mortgage Service and complained about the way Mr. B was treated. They said it was not their policy, oversight, broker was not authorized, blah, blah. Bottom line, this is a poor neighborhood and I think the broker thought he could take short cuts. Anyway, they said Mr. B needed to be "pre-qualified" by their mortgage broker (which we did for $100,000) and my question now is what do I do next. The broker, who has not put the property on MLS yet is clueless. He told the mortgage guy the property was worth $200,000, it is worth $50-70,000, needs a new roof that is estimated to be $20,000. It is behind a bar and three houses away from a junk yard in the city of Hartford. The broker has never been there and told the mortgage broker he has not seen the property but knows the market. Mr. B has not received any notice from anyone. We sent a letter to the broker asking where the rent should go and his reply was..I don't want to make it harder to evict him so I am not telling you. Any suggestions would help.