Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

You don't have many rights as tenant other than to demand that due process be followed regarding the eviction.

As heir, has an administrator been named for the estate? Regardless, if the bank sold the property for fair market value and the sale price was more than the value of the mortgage, the estate is entitled to the equity. If the house was underwater, the estate is not entitled to any money.

Is there some reason you did not speak to an attorney before it was too late?

It would appear that you are not a bona fide tenant, within the meaning of the federal law that applies to tenants of foreclosed property. Rather, you are in a tenancy at suffrance, and the lender or new owner can have you evicted.

If the lender foreclosed and purchased at the trustee's sale, then there is no surplus to inherit. If a third party bid over the amount of the indebtedness, however, they may be a surplus, and that amount would belong to the estate, as Mr. Jordan points out.