Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Trustee Sales

I'm sorry to say that you have been stung by what is happening to literally thousands of tenants who's landlords never advise them that they are losing the property in foreclosure. First, you were not paying the mortgage, you were paying rent. The owner of the property was not paying his mortgage which has led you to this point. Upon the Trustee's sale, you clearly will stop paying rent to the current landlord. You will probably shortly thereafter receive a 60 day notice from the lender to quit the property. If you do not leave or make other arrangements with the lender, you will be evicted. I would suggest that as soon as you get that 60 day notice, contact whomever is stated in the notice and see if they would be willing to continue to rent the property to you while they re-market the property. Sometimes you can get a better deal on rent in return for making the place available for showing to prospective buyers. Alternatively, you can start looking now to move and when you get that 60 day notice, call the lender and offer to move sooner if they pay you to do so. Its not uncommon for tenants in foreclosures to be offered money to leave before they legally have to. The important point is that you may have some remedies as to the landlord, however, its not necessarily going to keep you in the house. At some point, it is very likely you will have to move, and its better to be prepared than to get caught last minute trying to find a new place to live. I really do wish you good luck - this is a very unfortunate epidemic in California these days.

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Re: Trustee Sales

I might add that the practice of an owner/landlord taking rent from a tenant and not applying an equivalent amount to paying the mortgage can be illegal rent skimming if it is done during the first year of ownership. You might want to look up Civil Code sections 890 through 893 and see if any of this fits your situation.