Low

“Adams Country sheriff’s deputy Greg Barnett, center, looks on after an eviction team carried out a family’s belongings during a foreclosure eviction Feb. 2, in Adams County, Colo. The family had been renting from an owner, who collected the monthly payments but had stopped paying his mortgage, according to renter Mary Ann Smith.” Getty Images / John Moore (via @jdickerson)

I’ve been coming across a disturbing number of these stories recently. Eviction comes as a surprise to renters who pay their rent on time because the home owner stopped paying the mortgage months ago. Despicable.

Having been a renter and, at one point fortunate enough to rent out a house, the whole process seems very one sided. The onus of financial health is on the renter. This needs to change especially now, right now. Owners that rent out homes should be required to show proof of their monthly mortgage payment to their renters.

As for punishment for these folks, how about mandatory five year sentences in general population as sex offenders. A certain amount of opportunism is expected as people get desperate and/or greedy but this level of deception is low, low, low.