Public foreclosure, eviction records widely distributed among rental property owners

Homeowners who have succumbed to foreclosures and tenants who have been evicted should be aware that these mistakes and misdeeds are public record, and real estate investors in Ohio are not shy about sharing the information they've collected about potential renters with one another.

Rental property owners in Ohio are becoming an increasingly well-organized force and, within the private confines of their various associations and clubs, they frequently disseminate these public records.

Sure, it has always been easy for a landlord to visit the local courthouse and search for a potential renter's name within public records. In some cases, one can even access the information online via county government websites or newspaper archives. But the dissemination of these records, which one Ashtabula County association, for example, calls its "Caution List," eliminates even this minor hassle and effortlessly puts a potential tenant's public records right in the hands of rental property owners.

Due to my past affiliation with one Northwest Ohio real estate investment association, yesterday I received in the mail a list of two months worth of area foreclosures and evictions, complete with the names, and in some cases the addresses, of evicted renters and homeowners in foreclosure.

My place on the association's private mailing list, either because I have "former paid member" or "friend of" status, makes my receipt of this information perfectly legal.

Associations which participate in the distribution of similar lists, however, would be wise to keep the information from circulating publicly under their sponsorship, as a potential tenant with a good lawyer may be able to bring a case of defamation against the associations should he or she be refused housing based on one of these lists. Although the fact that the information on the disseminated lists is factual and public record would likely guarantee a court victory for an association, the association would probably do best to avoid lawsuits altogether.

Interestingly, I once raised the subject of potential defamation in objection to such lists at an area association's membership meeting and was told that the kind of person who is evicted is not the kind of person who can afford a lawyer.

Associations that want to protect their members from potential lawsuits may want to follow the aforementioned Ashtabula County organization's lead, if they aren't already taking precautionary steps. The Ashtabula group has posted a statement on their website indicating that "due to liability issues," its Caution List is no longer available online.

One presumes the list is still available to association members.

It may sound as if I'm overly criticizing real estate investors' and rental property owners' associations, but on the contrary this blog entry may in fact make such associations more attractive to non-members: An annual association membership fee may be well worth the easy access to the names of people who have been locally evicted. Foreclosure information, too, is valuable information for real estate investors looking to pick up new properties.

What tenants need to know is that just as a bankruptcy or conviction will follow a person for years and affect job, housing and financial opportunities, so may an eviction or a foreclosure.

So pay those bills, and pay them promptly.