I had my first taste of the housing market “collapse” today.

It was a sad case that likely portends the future. A contractor filed sued against a landlord and tenant for repairs to a rental property. The tenant claimed that he hired the contractor at the landlord’s direction and with the understanding that the landlord would assume the cost, or that the cost could be deducted from the rent. About a month after the repairs were completed, and before final payment was made, the tenant returned home to find a foreclosure and eviction notice on the front door.

Understandably, the contractor wanted to get paid and didn’t care from whom payment came. The tenant claimed that the landlord was responsible for the repairs, despite the fact that there was a signed, written “estimate” form, and he had made a deposit to the contractor. And the landlord failed to appear.

I have a feeling that we will be seeing this more and more in the coming months. What bothered me about this case was the fact that the landlord entered into the lease with the tenant with the knowledge that the property was in foreclosure. I’m not a real estate lawyer, but I don’t think a bank can foreclose after 90 days (the approximately length of time the tenant said he was in the property).