Rights Of California Tenants Facing Foreclosure Evictions Depend On What City They Live In

A recent column in the Los Angeles Times on tenants being forced from their rented homes as a result of their landlords being foreclosed on contained this excerpt:

• State officials said that under California law, existing rental agreements are essentially wiped out when a property is foreclosed upon. All that's required is that a tenant be given at least 30 days' notice that he or she is being evicted.

• But those officials also said that state law can be trumped by local rent-control statutes, which often provide tenants with more far-reaching protections. These "just cause" provisions of many municipal rent-control laws limit the ability of landlords to evict tenants, even those on month-to-month leases. They also include cases in which ownership of a property changes hands, such as a foreclosure.

• "Tenants cannot simply be evicted," insisted Adam Radinsky, who heads Santa Monica's consumer protection unit. "There's no question about that."

• Actually, it depends on where you live. Cities with "just cause" provisions include Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica, Thousand Oaks, West Hollywood and Glendale. However, not all "just cause" provisions are created equal. San Diego's requires that a tenant occupy a property for at least two years before the provision takes effect. Glendale's allows an eviction to proceed if the landlord plans to remove the property from the rental market or have a relative move in. Moreover, not all rental properties may fall under a city's rent-control protections. In such cases, state law would probably apply, which would allow a foreclosure-related eviction to go ahead. "In that case, the tenant may be in a really lousy position," said Al Shelden, chief of consumer law in California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's office. "There may not be many rights to begin with."

For more, see Shadow victims of the mortgage crisis: renters (if link expires, try here).

See also, KCBS Channel 2, Los Angeles: Money 101: Tenants Caught In Foreclosure.

Go here for other posts referencing California municipal "just cause" eviction laws.

For posts involving rent / equity skimming landlords who pocket rent and allow homes to go into foreclosure, see Tenants Unwittingly Renting Homes In Foreclosure I , II , III , IV , and V. equity skimming unwittingly epsilon