Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

If the loan isn�t reinstated or the sale isn�t postponed then property will be auctioned as scheduled. The new owner will then serve a notice to quit giving you a timeline to leave the premises. If you are a true tenant with a written lease and/or rental agreement then you should receive 90 days to vacate. If the new owner isn�t aware there is a tenant in the property you may be served with a 3 day notice as appropriate if you were the former owner. DON'T PANIC.. Simply get a copy of your lease/rental agreement and call the contact information that will be listed on the notice. The new owner will correct the notice and re-serve you at the location.

If you do not have a written lease then it is likely that the new owner of the property will ask you to leave in 3 days. If you are unable to vacate the property in that time period you should contact the owner to attempt to work something out. Sometimes the new owner will be willing to rent out the property to you, give you extra time in exchange for upkeep of the property etc.

If you fail to leave the property as requested they will file an Unlawful Detainer action to evict you. Note you have only 5 days to respond to this type of suit- do not ignore it. If the owner wins the suit then the Sheriff will serve you with a Writ of Possession telling you when to be completely out of the property. The Sheriff's office will physically evict you if you don't leave the property in time.

I'm sure your next question is if you are obligated to pay rent. If you have a written lease then you have a contractual obligation to pay rent until your landlord no longer owns the property. That being said, I have heard of tenants holding their rental payments in a separate bank accounts pending instruction by the courts.

If you need assistance with this issue please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email to schedule a consultation.

Dawn R. VanHorn

Attorney & Counselor at Law

VanHorn Legal

(714) 396-4152

www.VanHornLegal.com

[email protected]

The foregoing has been written by Dawn R. VanHorn, Attorney & Counselor at Law. If the designated recipient(s) of this communication have not fully executed a retainer agreement engaging Dawn R. VanHorn and/or VanHorn Legal relating to the subject(s) of this electronic message nothing herein constitutes nor is intended to be legal advice and as a result should not be relied upon as such.

The previous answer is very comprehensive and generally correct. If there is one flaw in it, it is that the right of a tenant to remain in possession for 90 days after the landlord has lost his/her/its /rights to a buyer in foreclosure is based on a recent federal law, and for various constitutional reasons applies only if the foreclosed loan had some federal nexus, typically that it was made by a federally-chartered bank or involved the VA, FHA, etc. If the foreclosed loan was a private or local deal, maybe the federal law doesn't apply. On the other hand, the borrower, erstwhile landlord, or buyer-at-foreclosure may not know their rights, so there's no real reason to kowtow to a 3-day notice without asserting 90-day rights. Make them show they can evict earlier.