Western New York Equine Lawyer?

[Jealoushe]

@Kr

It seems there is quite a bit of information not provided on this Case. There were 41 horses, not 20. It was her boyfriend who owned the property that was foreclosed on. The horses were held for her to claim and she did not do so. When horses were removed there were deceased horses on the property and the horses were not in good shape. Every effort was made to allow her to keep her horses, but she did not follow through.

This is a very sad situation that only happened because of inaction of the owner. There was no collusion …only concerned parties that did not want these horses to end up with dealers or killbuyers. No horses were sold after the auction. In fact they all were in horrible shape and needed extensive vetcare.

well I see we have Side 2 to the story arriving. Welcome

[Kr]

[Kr]

[Kr]

[Jealoushe]

Those poor babies

And you don’t have to out your identity to please some posters. No one else gets asked to identify themselves.

[MHM]

Those are certainly pictures of skinny horses.

How does anyone know if those are actually the horses in question?

I hope they got some groceries, regardless.

[Kr]

And to answer the question why didn’t anyone help her? To my knowledge no one knew about this legal mess. She merely asked people about property for rent. There was no urgency until it was too late. And someone mentioned she did not know where the horses were taken. That is not true. She was told where the horses were and was told she could get them …she would merely have to pay for their board. You can go on her Facebook page where she posted a video where she goes on the property and screams and threatens the man who was caring for them. She let months go by and did not pay their board…see the pattern of not being responsible?

[Kr]

They were taken by people who knew her and the horses at the auction. The auction also posted picts on their Facebook page

[Knights_Mom]

@Angela_Freda

As a tenant how would I know a property was being foreclosed in order to take action, such as, for example, pay my rent to the appropriate entity??

It’s my understanding that the only requirement for notice is in the newspaper and or at the town building.

You get served papers.

[MHM]

If that’s the case, why not provide a link to that Facebook page so people can see for themselves?

[Jealoushe]

@Kr

And to answer the question why didn’t anyone help her? To my knowledge no one knew about this legal mess. She merely asked people about property for rent. There was no urgency until it was too late. And someone mentioned she did not know where the horses were taken. That is not true. She was told where the horses were and was told she could get them …she would merely have to pay for their board. You can go on her Facebook page where she posted a video where she goes on the property and screams and threatens the man who was caring for them. She let months go by and did not pay their board…see the pattern of not being responsible?

and her BF didnt pay his mortgage either then I take it?

[Knights_Mom]

@Angela_Freda

@ASB_Stars

The person in question doesn’t have that skill set, and here we are.

Understood, but how many people actually would?

It’s all very sad.

When they come to court, us vacuumers take the time to explain every step. There is also an attorney or more in every courthouse who has the job of talking to litigants about procedure.

[Knights_Mom]

@OverandOnward

@FoxyFizz

Yes, there was a landlord/tenant relationship between the prior (foreclosed) owner and the Tenant. It should have transferred to New Owner and then properly terminated with a 90 Day Notice. That is the crux of the issue as to the eviction and whether it was properly conducted. New Owner did not recognize prior landlord/tenant relationship and indicated Tenant was actually a squatter which was an issue of fact that should have been decided at the town court level.

Got it. Thanks.

For those of us not in a position to be personally involved, this case serves as a cautionary tale, indeed. As a tenant or a landlord.

@Scribbler

But if the property is foreclosed and possessed by the bank, the original owner is out of the picture where the new buyer steps in. I doubt the tenant had a rental contract with the bank. At that point whether they were still paying rent to the former owner doesn’t matter because that’s not the property owner.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like tenant was able to survive in the limbo of being on a foreclosed property but caught out when the resale process started to move forward fast after the sale.

With the caveat that I’m not in the state and don’t know those laws, and as said am not an attorney, but do have some experience in property & landlord …

When the lender (bank or whatever it calls itself) takes possession of the property, and a valid tenant contract is in place, in my state the lender does become a landlord. And yes banks and financial institutions hate that, but the tenant has substantial rights in a foreclosure.

Where I am most of them farm it out to a property management company until they sell it at auction or the tenant contract runs out. In this state there are a wide range of lending entities from financial institutions to private lenders and who knows what else, and they vary as to what each one does from there. But they are all under the same law. In my state.

That tenant contract is a powerful thing so long as it is valid. In my state it has to be honored until it expires or the tenants agree to cancel it (for incentives). And there are some arrangements where a tenant can claim an implied contract and have it upheld, just because they are there and have been paying the rent, with or without current contract paperwork.

Some subsequent owners will offer “cash for keys” and try to buy the tenants out of it, offer moving services, etc. But it is up to the tenants how they respond.

If the tenants are behind in their rent then an eviction process may be possible, but that can become complicated as well, depending on what the tenant does about it.

Here, if the property is headed for auction, interested buyers will usually attempt to speak with the tenants and find out their state of mind. (Even if the sellers has asked that the tenants not be contacted.) If it becomes apparent that the tenants will not be cooperative with a next new owner who wants to make changes to the contract (such as agreement to cancel it and move out), that can hurt the buying interest considerably, which is not good for the bank (or other lender-owner). The presence of tenants and a contract that will pass to the new owner can definitely affect the attitude of prospective buyers at a foreclosure auction.

However it seems that in this case the clock was running, and probably steps were missed, and the tenant got caught in a legal situation that has now put them at a disadvantage. That’s what makes this such an example of how things can go so very wrong.

I used to process foreclosure holdovers all the time. The tenants are noticed and once the bank owns the property they go to LT court and begin a Holdover proceeding.

On the first date they would rarely show so another hearing date is set and small yellow postcards are mailed by the vacuumer for each individual names as to the next date and failre to appear leads to eviction. I could send a dozen postcards out addressed to John Doe, Jane Doe, John Doe 2, Jane Doe 2 etc etc

[Knights_Mom]

@OverandOnward

Some subsequent owners will offer “cash for keys” and try to buy the tenants out of it, offer moving services, etc. But it is up to the tenants how they respond.

Happens all the time. Literally ALL the time. And some tenants bank on it.

[Knights_Mom]

@Kr

That would be a question that needs to be asked of every auction in NY. You obviously have not been to these auctions and seen the condition of horses sold.It happens all the time. Instead of bashing a rescue for helping these horses maybe the question is where would they be if someone had not intervened…exploited by a dealer or worse shipped to slaughter? There are multiple known killbuyers at this sale. They posted picts of some of the horses and they were pathetically skinny.

Indeed. I got one of my horses via a rescue who plucked him from the New Holland kill pen as a bag of bones. Many auctions sell skeleton horses.

[Kr]

You can find unadilla horse auction on facebook.

[Scribbler]

Thank you for the update. I also found the rescue easily enough on Google with a few key words.

As far as the eviction, to me it changes everything legally if the person was the girlfriend of the property owner who was foreclosed on.

It’s one thing to buy a property with an established tenant and have the contract handed over. It’s another thing to buy a foreclosed property and find a family member of the former owner still ensconced with a large herd of skinny horses. I wonder if boyfriend had moved out or if he was still there too?

I doubt in this case the herd owner had a lease contract or was paying rent.

Those photos show ample cause to seize horses for humane reasons. Usually such horses would go straight to a rescue, not to an auction, but perhaps there was some debt owing clause being activated whereby they needed to be sold at public auction (like for a stable man’s lien).

I expected there was another side to things, but didn’t expect it to be so ugly as original information said there was no welfare reason to seize the horses.

[ASB_Stars]

I have seen pictures, with dates, of these horses on the property. There isn’t a single horse that looks like this. Bear in mind that the horses were removed from the property, and the owner’s care, 8.26.22. They were sold at auction on 10.15.22. There is no way to determine what the level of care was during that period of time. No welfare action was ever filed against the owner, to the best of my knowledge.

IRS information on the rescue:

Dreamscape - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

[Knights_Mom]

@Scribbler

Thank you for the update. I also found the rescue easily enough on Google with a few key words.

As far as the eviction, to me it changes everything legally if the person was the girlfriend of the property owner who was foreclosed on.

It’s one thing to buy a property with an established tenant and have the contract handed over. It’s another thing to buy a foreclosed property and find a family member of the former owner still ensconced with a large herd of skinny horses. I wonder if boyfriend had moved out or if he was still there too?

I doubt in this case the herd owner had a lease contract or was paying rent.

Those photos show ample cause to seize horses for humane reasons. Usually such horses would go straight to a rescue, not to an auction, but perhaps there was some debt owing clause being activated whereby they needed to be sold at public auction (like for a stable man’s lien).

I expected there was another side to things, but didn’t expect it to be so ugly as original information said there was no welfare reason to seize the horses.

The horse I got was the subject of an abuse reporting. He and a gray horse found as skinners. The neglecting owner made a deal to avoid prosecution by getting rid of the horses so he sent them to the auction.

I can see the possibility of that happening here.

[Kr]

So by posting about the rescue what exactly are you insinuating?