Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Tenant Rights In Foreclosure

If the home was foreclosed, then the former landlord has no say whatsoever in when you must leave. If the home was foreclosed, then you will be contacted by the bank and asked to leave. I would go nowhere until you hear from the bank or their realtor. Ask to see the recorded "Trustee's Deed" which is evidence that the home now belongs to someone else. There is a new law that provides that a tenant living in a home foreclosed cannot be evicted until the bank gives you 60 days written notice to leave after the foreclosure. If you know someone in real estate, have them call a title company to verify that the home is actually now sold to the bank at foreclosure. I may be paranoid, but this sounds like something else might be going on. Now, if (as is discussed below) you are on a month-to-month lease, the landlord can terminate your lease on 30 days written notice, so even if he's not being truthful about the foreclosure, you may not have any right to stay. The second issue is the balance of your lease. You need to have someone review the lease, as you state it was a one year lease, then later it was a month-to-month lease. If it is a month-to-month lease, you have no damages as he could have terminated your lease with 30 days notice anyway for no reason. Since you mentioned a one-year lease, it is possible that you had four months remaining on the term. The lanldord, in that case, may be liable to you for damages for early termination of the lease, even if its due to his losing the property in foreclosure. The measure of those damages would be only the four months remaining on the lease. You need to review more facts with an attorney to reach any conclusions on this question.

Finally, with respect to the security deposit, it depends upon a number of issues. First, if the property was in fact lost in foreclosure, then the security deposit must be returned within 21 days of the foreclosure sale, and without deduction (as he no longer owns the property). Alternatively, if the landlord still owns the property, then the 21 days starts running when you surrender the property, and he can deduct for damage. With respect to paying rent, you need to know if he still owns it. If it was lost in foreclosure, then don't pay rent until the bank or the new buyer contacts you. If he still owns it, you do have to pay rent through your last day in the property.

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