Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
If a landlord sells the property can he evict you?
3 Answers from Attorneys
If the property has already been sold, then your former landlord is no longer your landlord - the new owner of the property is the landlord. So long as the landlord still owns the property, they can evict you if you haven't paid rent with a three (3) day notice, or they can terminate your tenancy if you are a month-to-month tenant. If you have a lease, they cannot simply terminate your lease because they are selling the property. If you have a lease with a remaining term, the current and future owner must honor the lease. The exception to all of this, however, is where the property is sold at foreclosure. There are an entirely different set of rules for evictions after foreclosure. It is hard to answer your question with so few facts - if you want more information, provide more details about what is happening, and how the landlord is trying to evict you.
*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. Further, information you provide to the Firm through this website is not confidential - it is available publicly to anyone visiting this website. The Firm shall have no obligation to keep the information you provide herein confidential in any context. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence. As required by 11 U.S.C. �528, we must now disclose that, "We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Assistance we provide with respect to Debt Relief may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code."
This question comes up fairly frequently in one context or another. The answer is basically that "change of landlord" is not a breach of the lease nor otherwise any reason for the eviction of a tenant who is otherwise not subject to eviction. A change of landlord does not invalidate leases written by the previous landlord. So, the answer is generally "NO."
It may be, of course, that the new landlord may be less tolerant of breaches of the lease or rental agreement than the old landlord, and may decide to act upon some pre-existing ground for eviction. However, you cannot be evicted just because the property is changing hands.
There are two relatively minor exceptions to the foregoing. First, if your lease or rental agreement specifically says something like, "This lease may be terminated upon landlord's sale of the property," then that provision would prevail. The other is if the change of landlords occurs because of a foreclosure. In that case, leases that are junior in time to the foreclosed deed of trust would be wiped out, and any future tenancy would depend upon cutting a deal with the buyer at the foreclosure sale.
Yes, anytime, so long as eviction is done in accordance with your lease or rental agreement or the law if there is no lease or agreement.