Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Sorry to hear about this. It's hard to know when to trust a landlord these days - I see this situation almost every day of the week.

There are a few possible scenarios. First, the home may have been sold on the published date. If it was sold, it may have been sold to a third-party, or back to the bank for its opening bid (if no other bidders were there or raised a sufficient bid). Alternatively, the sale may have been continued for any one of a hundred different reasons (bankruptcy of the landlord, modification of the landlord's loan, or an application for modification pending, short-sale pending, etc...). It is difficult for you to know with any certainty what transpired, unless you have access to a title database (title company or local realtor). They can check the county recorder's records to determine if a "Trustee's Deed" has been recorded. If one has been recorded (and it should have been recorded by now for a September 14, 2010 sale date), the you will now know who the new owner is. If no Trustee's Deed has been recorded, you probably have to assume that the landlord still owns the home. If a Trustee's Deed has been recorded, then you should not pay rent to the prior landlord. Alternatively, if none has been recorded, then you probably do need to pay October rent to the landlord. Again, unless you have received notice from someone indicating that they now own the property, it is very likely that your old landlord still owns the property.

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