Would have been better to post this on the landlord-tenant board vs. this one (which is miscellaneous property issues).
"Shortly thereafter, a neighbor told us that the "landlord" did not own the property and had no right to rent it out or live there."
I wouldn't be listening to a neighbor; even if the person you know as the landlord isn't named on the deed, that doesn't mean the person didn't have a right to rent the place out.
"She became incarcerated around that time (unrelated incident...)"
You do understand that this sentence coming right after to the reference of a neighbor telling you X, a person can only conclude that you're referring to the neighbor when you say "she". :) It's hard to tell who you mean here.
I presume the reference to "the bank" means that "the bank" was the buyer at public auction (and perhaps "the bank" was the mortgage holder and no one else bid on the property, so it "bought" it?).
"I have left several messages with the bank that supposedly bought the house to no avail."
Would be smarter to find out who you would *write* to regarding any bank-purchased property.
"Several people were sent by the "landlord" to collect "rent", via intimidation, during her incarceration, but we refused to pay these hoodlums any more money!"
Still hard to decipher who is "she".
"We finally spoke to her mother on 9/10/09 to ask her what she knows. She seems to think that she somehow still owns the house and said she has nothing to do with her daughters actions, and after refusing rent from us, told us (without written notice) to be out in 30 days."
Okay, let's backtrack here. You supposedly have information/a deed showing that ownership was transferred from some "mother" to "the bank", though you don't say whether a foreclosure took place or what.
"Her daughter has since been released from jail, forced entry to the house, causing serious injury to my elderly mother, and just served us with a ludicrous Unlawful Detainer."
Uhm, presumably you ensured that the police hauled her off for breaking and entering, assault, etc. :)
"She told the police that her signature was forged on the lease!"
And presumably she proved that her signature didn't match the signature on the lease and her claim went nowhere (e.g., no one was charged with forgery). If the lease has her name on it -- though you don't bother to make that clear -- how would YOU know to put some supposed non-owner's name on a lease in the first place? How did you get a key to the place, etc.? You don't bother mentioning what the police had to say about all this, or the court in which she supposedly filed the unlawful detainer/eviction action.
"What are our rights ?"
Difficult to say, since you aren't really clear about who owns the property, whose name is on this lease you mention, etc.
"We still cannot discern who the rightful owner is..."
You say you received a deed from a title company that presumably indicates a foreclosure took place or that the current owner of record is "the bank".
"When we moved in, we installed a water heater, range, prof. repaired the central heating , painted rooms to cover grafitti and made many other repairs necessary to make the place habitable."
You never ever improve someone else's property you're renting; that's just nuts.
"Isn't her unl. detr. worthless?"
That's for a court to say.
Seek local counsel.
