Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Look at your problem in a simple, unemotional manner. You lived in the property for which before you had paid rent. No one said you could live there rent free. You received the benefit of living there so should normally have to pay rent for the accomodations. Rent is not owed the lender as it does not own the property. So the only person eligible to get the rent money would be the owner of the property concurrently during the time you were there.

Say the landlord had told you that on 1/1/10 escrow would close upon his sale of the property to another person, Smith. To whom is the December rent owed to? Is there no rent owed because of the owner's contract with Smith? I think it is obvious that you have to pay rent to the person who owns the property during December, who is your current landlord.

While you never had a written rental agreement, you did have an oral contract with the landlord as to renting the place. The statute of limitations, which is the time in which you must file suit, for oral contracts is 2 years, so he can still demand the rent.

You should contact the lender to be sure when the foreclosure sale occurs and the lender becomes the owner. You should tell both for the month that includes the foreclosure sale date you will withhold the rent until you can be sure who is entitled to what portion.

We have a fair amount of experience in post foreclose evictions. The landlord can collect rent as long as he owns the property. If the property is foreclosed and is sold at auction or trustee's sale then he no longer can collect the rent. Once the house is sold you get to stay there 90 more days which starts when the new owner sends you a notice to quit.

If you live in an area that has rent control then the foreclosure does not constitute good cause for eviction and you may be able to stay here indefinitely provided you pay the rent.

So you need to find out if the house was sold at auction or not. There would have been a notice of trustee sale attached to the door and you should have gotten notice as a tenant under the new laws. Within a week or so after the auction the new owner which is most likely the lender will have their realtor come by to inspect the property. They will tell you whom to pay or you will get a letter from the lender's lawyer telling you who to pay and probably to move out in 90 days. If the landlord claims he still owns the property make him prove it and get a written lease from him this time.

Hope that helps and good luck.