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No one mentioned the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act? I'm really surprised. It is still in effect, and I've never read anything that says it doesn't cover condos or California.
It says that if the property goes to foreclosure, the tenant has some protection. If it sells at auction to someone who wants to live in the house, they can give you 90 days notice to vacate. If it sells to an investor or goes back to the bank, they have to either honor your lease, or if you have less than 90 days (or are month to month) they have to give you 90 days notice. They can offer you money to move out quicker, but you don't have to agree. 90 days is the least notice they can give you. You have to keep paying rent as per your lease to be covered though, otherwise, they can have you evicted for non-payment.
There are some limitations, such as that it has to be market rate rent, and you have to be an arms-length tenant (can't be related to the prior landlord, etc), but if you were in a normal lease situation, those should be true.
In my experience, in most cases, tenants lose their deposit in a foreclosure. You can sue your past landlord if you think you have a chance of ever seeing the money.
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. Are there any free legal resources out there in LA to help with the specifics.
HACLA or LAHD (that I provided links for earlier) will be a good start - though, from my experience, your assistance will only be as good as the person on the other end of the phone, as in some instances, I've found myself explaining applicable laws to them
Basically, the property will be for-fitted to forclosure after the 20th. That means your contract/aggreement is no longer valid. You don't have to move just yet possibly upto a year, tthe forclosing bank will pay for moving expenses upto 2200. Its judt their way of getting you oout of the property that they're about to demolish, remodel or rebuild bank do this all the time. Tell them the truth , you have nowhere to go and you will Get compesation!!!! This is not your fault or something you saw coming.
I'm sorry, I saw that you and jaimeblt both posted links to California programs, but didn't see anything about the federal program. I was bad and didn't read the link before posting, or I would have seen that even though your link doesn't mention the federal Act specifically, it does basically outline its rules.
Rereading this thread, it is scary how much wrong or misleading information there is here.
You can live for a year rent free - wrong
The new owner has to honor your lease - possibly right, possibly wrong, depending on circumstances
They have to give you 30 days notice - wrong, they have to give 90 minimum, honor your lease or buy you out.
They will pay you to move - MAYBE!
You will get your deposit back from the bank - MAYBE (usually not, I see people in this situation all the time and the only tenants I have seen get a deposit back are the ones that the property was managed by a property manager, and that property manager was holding the deposit)
If the bank ends up with the house back, you usually will get SOMETHING for money from them, but the amount they pay you to move could be less than what you had coming for deposit. The banks have drastically lowered the amount they offer since this first started. In the beginning, I saw people getting offers of $2500 to be out in 2 weeks or $3000 to be out in 4 weeks, now it is much more likely to be $1200-$1500 to be out in 2 weeks, and no offer if you take longer. I've never seen anyone get both a deposit back AND money to move, unless, as I said, a PM had their deposit.
You can move out and move back in - this one takes the cake, since you don't have to move out at all, but by doing so, you may lose all your protection under this act, and lose all your bargaining rights with the new owner. This is anti-advice.
Lacerta, a lot of things will be specific to the original poster's residing in LA, as it has some of the fiercest tenant rights laws in the nation under its Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
For instance, if this particular case is covered under the RSO's relocation program, the tenant is entitled to $7,300 (minimum) in relocation expenses.
But yes, there's a lot of heresy in this thread and everything will be specific to his/her detailed situation. Topic starter needs to digest the information provided, and seek professional (local) legal counsel based on the timeline presented as their "eviction" date is quickly approaching.
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. Are there any free legal resources out there in LA to help with the specifics.
This is a LA lawyer specializing in the situation you're in. The article not only gives useful information but apparently she offers a low-cost telephone consultation which might be worthwhile looking into:
Other than that, check with your local Legal Aid office. Good luck and don't worry - the law is on your side right now and you're not going to be turned out onto the street!
A friend of mine in Cali rented a home and the owner got foreclosed on.
They let him stay rent-free in the home for the remainder of the lease, (which was nearly a year!), and when it came up, they offered a rent-to-own solution so they didn't have to post/sell the house.
I just received an email from my landlord February 2nd that the condo we are living in as tenants is being foreclosed upon. It is being sold on 2/20 of this month and she stated we need to leave by February 18th. My finance and I do not have friends or family in the area and cannot move that quickly.
Does anyone know what are rights are, who could help us and what we should do next (i.e. do we need inform that lender who is selling the condo that we are occupying the condo as tenants and intend to stay. What happens to our security deposit) Thanks!
If you have a signed lease it will be honored by the new landlords. Check with your county tenant laws, though. You may have quite awhile to have to be out and you may end up with an offer of 'cash for keys'. The condo may be going into foreclosure but it doesn't necessarily mean it's been sold. Check and double check. It may go up for auction...don't start packing yet as there are laws that protect you, as the tenant, in situations like this...you could get up to six months of a very good deal before you are offerd a good sum of 'cash' for your 'keys' by the new owner or property management company... find out who the realty company is and start emailing them...ruffle some feathers. Don't come across as the victim in this. Find out your rights and stand up for them. Seriously...LL think that just because they quit making mortgage payments on their condos they have the right to tell you to 'get out'...not the case. keep us posted. Our last LL on the Big Island of Hawaii was a slime ball...we ended up finishing the last 7 months of our lease and another 9 months rent free and then were offered $1,000.00 for our keys.
Koale
YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaY! Lets get arrested, charged and booked for breaking and entering, trespassing, disorderly conduct, ect.
Also, who buys a place and doesn't change the locks as the #1 thing before anything else?
Who says its going to sell? Who says the bank is actually going to put it on the market? Who knows if they will even bother getting someone over to the place in the next 12 months.
Do you know how many properties are sitting empty for years?
Let them squat until someone tells them to leave. What do they have to lose...a months down payment?
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Been there...
