I live in the state of Florida. On 6/20, I signed a one year lease on a property that I did not find out was in foreclosure until I paid my July rent. I gave my landlord 1st and security. I am still living in the property. My landlord has never called me nor informed me of the auction which will take place on the 25th of this month (three months after I moved in) Per advice of a real estate expert, I was told not to pay my August and September rent because in all probability I will not recover my deposit nor the rent I paid. If the house sells at auction, what rights do I have as a non owner to vacate the property, in other words, how long? I am hoping that if it sells to an investor I can stay and continue to rent w/o vacating. There are several vacant homes both with for sale and for rent signs in the development.

First, I'm sorry you're stuck in this situation. You're one of a HUGE, growing number of renters who are finding themselves renting property that's going into foreclosure. As of yet, the government hasn't passed any legislation to help out in your situation.

I would say that legally, the advice you've been given isn't correct. According to the law, your landlord is still the owner of the property until it sells at auction, or if it doesn't sell the bank will take it back at that point. So up until the day of the auction you still owe your landlord everything that the lease calls for. If you don't pay him rent up through that day he technically could sue you for it.

Now on a more practical basis, chances are he's got a lot on his plate and isn't going to be coming after you for the rent. Just know that he could. What has been discussed on this forum is holding the rent in an escrow account. That way you would have it held back in the unlikely event that you'd be forced to pay it.

It's highly doubtful that you'll ever see your deposit. Same deal as owing the rent... legally, you'd have the right to sue the landlord for it (at the termination of your contract), but if he's not paying the mortgage, chances are he wouldn't have the money to pay you back your deposit - even if you got a judgement for it.

Yes, if the house sells at auction to an investor there's a chance that they'll just let you stay on as a tenant. If the bank gets it they'll want you out, but I believe they'll have to go through some sort of formal eviction process to make it happen. It takes different amounts of time in different places.

Have you had any contact with the bank? Is there any chance of bringing the mortgage up to date and assuming it? Some of the banks that are doing a lot of foreclosures are making some pretty unbelievable deals with people right now.

Im actually having a similar issue. I started renting my townhome in July. Today a man came to serve my landlord a foreclosure notice. We tried to contact her and now she won't answer our calls or return them. Shouldn't I have the right to withhold rent being that I may have to move at any given time? There's no way I can come up with rent plus deposit at a moments notice. I know for a fact that my landlord used my rent last month put a down payment on a house as she just moved to Texas.

Except in California, you can not legally withhold rent if the house is in foreclosure, if you do, you default on the lease and the owner could have actually taken you to court prior to eviction under the terms of the lease.

I heard ( have not seen) that under a few of the government loans, the bank if they end up with the property willl be forced to honor the lease so in those cases the lease would still be vaid though the foreclosure,

But basically it is not really fair to the renter but you are bound by the lease even if they are in foreclosure, since they still own it and could at any time even a day before the sale come back and save it at times

So yayabo while the advice you got may have worked for you, it was not proper legal advice and you were in default of the lease prior to foreclosure