Are Banks Landlords?

A California appeals court will soon decide whether banks can be held liable in wrongful eviction cases. A lower court has decided that banks may be considered landlords and are subject to lawsuits in state court. Banks are hoping for the decision to be overturned, expressing that this decision will hurt the market by increasing the risks that investors face.

The case comes from claims of a family that had been paying rent to the owner, but were foreclosed on by the bank. The family claims that they came home to all of their belonging thrown out of the house and were not allowed inside. They brought a wrongful eviction claim under California state law.

See Karen Gullo, Deutsche Bank Says Landlord Ruling May Flood Courts, Bloomberg, April 30, 2014.