Rental Brokers: How They Can Work for You

With home sales declining to record lows, many homeowners who can't sell their homes are turning to rental brokers to ease their financial burden. Instead of paying the mortgage on an empty house, they opt to rent it to help cover the mortgage until the market turns around. However, things don't always work out as planned.

A tenant in Cornelius, N.C. was startled one afternoon by a visit from the sheriff. She was served with foreclosure papers for the property, which she was renting from an out-of-town homeowner. She immediately called her rental broker, John Bradford of Park Avenue Properties, to see what her rights were as a renter of a foreclosed property.

Bradford is a member and Southeast regional vice president of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, which is an association that supports the professional and ethical practices of rental home management companies through networking, education, and designation. Here are his tips on choosing and working with a rental broker: