Renters be warned: the housing crisis doesn't just affect home owners: Over the last year and a half in San Francisco, lenders have foreclosed on 492 homes, and at least 130 of these were occupied by renters. Despite the better wishes of landlords and banks, tenants have their own rights. They don't need to quietly accept a note on the door telling them to vacate, or sit in darkness when their power is turned off. It's not that people (i.e. banks) haven't tried those things though — they definitely have, and until a tenancy advocacy group is involved, they'll probably continue to do so. Legally, owners can only evict a tenant in order to demolish the building, convert it to condos, or move their own family into it. But it isn't just banks who are ignorant of the law: Many tenants don't know their own rights, either. Good times, everyone. Good times.
· Foreclosure's hidden victims [SF Gate]
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