When a Landlord files bankruptcy does the tennant still have to pay rent?

Jake: When a Landlord files bankruptcy does the tennant still have to pay rent?
I have a co-worker who lives in a house and rents from a landlord who has filed bankruptcy, what are her rights as a tenant in that situation? Does she need to continue paying rent? Does she have to get notice to move out ? We live in Michigan

Answers and Views:

Answer by Scott Monster
It depends on the local laws, but normally, the tenents get an eviction notice even if they’ve been paying on time.

Answer by becare
Yes, the tenant still has to pay rent. Until notified by the bankruptcy court the rent should be paid to the landlord.

Answer by rickinnocal
Yes she has to pay rent.

Yes, if the house is foreclosed on then the new owner has to give her notice if he wants her out.

Richard

Answer by Entropy
Yes. When a company/person with whom you have a contract goes bankrupt, you are still obligated by that contract. It’s just the money may end up going to someone else’s pocket (one of the landlord’s creditors).

If the property gets moved to another owner as part of bankruptcy, the new owner may in fact have new plans for the property, but your co-worker has the same rights she had before.

Answer by goodros
YES! Her contract with the landlord is still valid no matter what the landlord’s financial situation is. The same applies to her rights as a tenant. The contract is still legally binding, and is not affected in anyway by bankruptcy proceedings unless the judge orders some sort of liquidation on the propery. In that case, the judge and the bankruptcy court will arrange for settlement of the housing matters.

Answer by Steve K
Be advised, this answer is not Michigan-specific.

Generally speaking, a tenant is not absolved of his/her obligation to pay rent when a landlord files for bankruptcy. Nor is the leasehold dissolved in such event. The tenant must continue to pay rent to the landlord; if the landlord loses the property, she must pay rent to the bank or corporate entity controllnig the landlord’s assets.

Answer by Husker
They still need to pay, but there are some advantages that may come. If they foreclose the bank will pay the tenants to move (usually 500 USD) but could be more. They will also give a move out time, or just continue with the lease agreement. Most will have the tenants move out. Bankruptcy does take time so if she stops paying the landlord can evict her, and use that as reasoning for keeping property and making the bankruptcy work for them. Therefore screwing over your friend and the other tenants. Best bet is to pay, or make partials showing.

Answer by thylawyer
She should check with a local legal services office or similar agency. In some states, the tenant can stay in the apartment only if the rent is paid to the landlord or to the trustee if the property is not exempt, or to the foreclosing entity if it is foreclosure and the landlord is not trying to get caught up (in a Chapter 13, usually). If she does not know who to pay, she should put the money aside in a bank account so she can pay whoever she needs to, including any back rent. This is not a free pass, unless she wants to move.

She can check with the bankruptcy court or the trustee for the case and then speak with the attorney representing the landlord. The court’s documents are public.

Answer by Dick Stainy
Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk? His whole abdomen would move up and down you dig farting out the words. It was unlike anything I ever heard.

This ass talk had sort of a gut frequency. It hit you right down there like you gotta go. You know when the old colon gives you the elbow and it feels sorta cold inside, and you know all you have to do is turn loose? Well this talking hit you right down there, a bubbly, thick stagnant sound, a sound you could smell.

This man worked for a carnival you dig, and to start with it was like a novelty ventriliquist act. Real funny, too, at first. He had a number he called “The Better ‘Ole” that was a scream, I tell you. I forget most of it but it was clever. Like, “Oh I say, are you still down there, old thing?”

“Nah I had to go relieve myself.”

After a while the ass start talking on its own. He would go in without anything prepared and his ass would ad-lib and toss the gags back at him every time.

Then it developed sort of teeth-like little raspy in-curving hooks and started eating. He thought this was cute at first and built an act around it, but the asshole would eat its way through his pants and start talking on the street, shouting out it wanted equal rights. It would get drunk, too, and have crying jags nobody loved it and it wanted to be kissed same as any other mouth. Finally it talked all the time day and night, you could hear him for blocks screaming at it to shut up, and beating it with his fist, and sticking candles up it, but nothing did any good and the asshole said to him: “It’s you who will shut up in the end. Not me. Because we dont need you around here any more. I can talk and eat and shit.”

After that he began waking up in the morning with a transparent jelly like a tadpole’s tail all over his mouth. This jelly was what the scientists call un-D.T., Undifferentiated Tissue, which can grow into any kind of flesh on the human body. He would tear it off his mouth and the pieces would stick to his hands like burning gasoline jelly and grow there, grow anywhere on him a glob of it fell. So finally his mouth sealed over, and the whole head would have have amputated spontaneous — (did you know there is a condition occurs in parts of Africa and only among Negroes where the little toe amputates spontaneously?) — except for the eyes you dig. Thats one thing the asshole couldn’t do was see. It needed the eyes. But nerve connections were blocked and infiltrated and atrophied so the brain couldn’t give orders any more. It was trapped in the skull, sealed off. For a while you could see the silent, helpless suffering of the brain behind the eyes, then finally the brain must have died, because the eyes went out, and there was no more feeling in them than a crab’s eyes on the end of a stalk.
Naked Lunch was originally published in 1959 by Olympia Press in Paris. The first printing in July 1959 consisted of 5,000 copies, and a second printing of 5,000 copies was done shortly thereafter. The first printing is distinguished by a green ornament border on the title page. Later printings also lacked the dust jacket. (Maynard & Miles A2)

Answer by Dan L
Yes. Failure to pay rent risks eviction.