Renters: Another Impact of the Mortgage and Credit Crisis

When people cannot pay for the buildings they purchased, those properties go into foreclosure. And when the people who bought purchased multi-family dwellings, perhaps thinking that renters would pay for the mortgage, there's the chance that multiple families will hit the streets in the foreclosure process. It's a hidden aspect of the mortgage crisis. According to Crain's New York Business, a new survey suggests that 38,000 tenants live in 15,000 buildings that went into foreclosure last year:

Foreclosures could leave tens of thousands of New Yorkers who live in rental apartments without places to live, according to an analysis released Monday by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

Nearly 60% of the 15,000 foreclosure filings in New York City last year involved two- to four-family or multi–family buildings. That means renters, and not just owners, could be sent scrambling.

So where are these people supposed to go? And is anyone tallying their costs as part of the mortgage crisis?