Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Unfortunately your obligation to pay rent is independent of what the landlord does with the money. You owe rent to your landlord up until the property sells at the Trustee's Sale. Then you owe the rent to the new owner. You don't say what kind of lease you have. Under new Federal legislation, you have a minimum of 90 days before you can be forced out by the new owners. If you have a lease that will not be up until more than 90 days, then you have until the lease is up. Of course that is only if you "attorn" to your new landlord, meaning comply with all the terms of the lease and treat the new owner as if they had been the landlord all along. If you breach the lease, the new owner can and probably will evict you with no opportunity to cure the breach the way most orignal landlords would.

I agree with Mr. McCormick, and have two comments to add. First, in some cases the new Federal legislation may not apply......it only applies where there is some Federal nexus to the loan, e.g. is Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, or made or owned by a Federally-chartered bank. If the foreclosed loan is private, the law probably cannot apply.

Next, the landlord may be guilty of "rent skimming." It is unlawful for the new owner of a rental property to accept rent without applying an equivalent amount to his mortgage commitments. This is usually applicable to the first year of ownership. Look up Civil Code sections 890 to 893 and see if the fit the situation.