Teri Herold-Prayer moved out of her rental home in Lacey on March 22, but is still waiting for another shoe to drop: Her former landlord, who was slated to lose the house in a foreclosure sale April 3, could still file a damaging court eviction against her.
When she saw the sale notice posted on the house, Herold-Prayer says she asked the home's owner to return her $1,275 deposit so she could move, but the landlord refused, denying that she would lose the house ("Tenant struggles to beat the bank auction," Feb. 18). In March, Herold-Prayer says she gave the landlord 20 days notice and told her to keep the deposit as her April rent -- a bold move, given that a tenant hasn't the right to break a lease even in foreclosures.
To her amazement, the landlord replied with a "Three-Day Pay or Vacate" notice and a letter threatening eviction if she didn't pay April's rent. Herold-Prayer wrote the woman back that, if she gets eviction papers, she will sue her for lease fraud.
So far, she's heard nothing back, but the ex-landlord still has time to file. In the meantime, she had to come up with close to $3,000 to move her and her teenage son.