Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Do I still have to pay rent?

Legally, the answer is YES, because you are under contract to pay the rent and two wrongs don't make a right, there is no free lunch, etc.

As a practical matter, at some point close to the foreclosure sale and new owners maybe kicking you out, it ceases to make sense to pay the rascal, especially if you had little or no forewarning.

Factors you need to weigh include:

(1) Possibility landlord will pay up and get reinstated on his mortgage;

(2) Possibility new owners will give you a new lease if you have been a good tenant;

(3) Size of security deposit landlord is holding and likely size of offsets landlord can claim against it such as crayon marks on wall and dog pee smell (for example);

(4) How much a good credit score means to you;

(5) Whether you have time to go to court if sued;

(6) How quickly and easily you can move;

(7) How soon the sale will take place (which is sometimes hard to know, especially for a tenant, because postponements do occur).

There are probably many other factors, including whether you like or dislike the landlord and whether the landlord is a victim or a crook.