California Tenants In Foreclosed Homes Now Get To Live Free For 60 Days After Sale While Looking For Another Rental

For tenants in California, a blurb buried at the end of a recent article in the Visalia Times Delta serves as a reminder on a new state law protecting tenants in foreclosed homes:

• [A] new state law, however, gives renters 60 days after a foreclosure sale to move out. During that time, tenants are not required to pay rent and landlords have no right to ask for it, said Suzanne Swenk, a supervising attorney with the Visalia-based Central California Legal Services, which advises low-income tenants in rental disputes.

California tenants are well advised to research the local ordinances of their cities or towns to determine if those ordinances give even greter protections than the new state law.(1)

For the story, see Renters rocked by foreclosure evictions (Landlords who default on mortgages leave tenants without homes).

(1) For example, reportedly under San Francisco laws, foreclosure is not grounds for a tenant eviction in building covered by the local rent control law. Unless tenants have stopped paying rent or otherwise have misbehaved, generally a tenant in a rent-controlled building can be forced out only when a new owner plans to demolish the property, has secured the necessary approvals to convert into it condominiums or plans to move in family members or him or herself, according to the city's rent ordinance. Even then, the owner typically must provide several months' notice and thousands of dollars in relocation costs. For more, see San Francisco Chronicle: Foreclosure's hidden victims. TenantRentSkimmingAlpha