I live in California in a house on 3.8 acres. I found out that the house was being forclosed. When I inquired about this to the owner he said it was to be sold on a short sale. A week kater he said the sale didn't go through. A Month later I was told the house was sold at auction and the new owners wanted possession in three days, and we had 14 days to vacant the property. We have a signed lease(signed prior to the auction)that the new owners say is invalid. However if we have to stay until the end of the month they want us to pay $300 more than what we had paid according to our signed lease. They do not want us staying past the end of the month. What rights do we have? What can we do if we can't find a place to move to? And can they demand the additional amount on our rent for this month?

Under FEDERAL legislation (Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009), your new landlord has inherited the lease and has to honor it. An exception is if he intends to move in himself, he has to give you 90 days notice. I'm not sure how you will prove that he 'intends' to live there, but you could sue for damages after the fact if he doesn't.

If your city has rent control, 'just cause' eviction protections apply, and you may have even more rights.

It sounds like neither party here knows about this law, understandable given that it's only 2 years old.
You should find out exactly what the situation was with the sale to be sure it was a foreclosure.

As for you paying him $300 extra? Not a chance. Generally new owners are paying tenants extra to move, and there's even a term for it because it's so common: cash for keys.

Even if this wasn't a foreclosure you can wait for the new owner to evict you, but I would guess that it was.

"Joy" is right - the lease is binding on the new owners. That includes ALL of the terms (including the amount of the rent).

I would seek legal advice so you are prepared for whatever happens next.

Here is a link to a sticky that discusses this. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/real-e...-316199-2.html

On the second page is a link to the law that Joy referred to.

I would send the link or print it out and present it to the new owners. Tell them you would be happy to move sooner then the end of the lease if they want to buy out the lease. Ask for 2-3 months rent AND Moving costs.

Keep us posted.

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Originally Posted by ladihawk

... We have a signed lease(signed prior to the auction)that the new owners say is invalid. ...

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I wonder if they think the lease is not a "Bona fide lease" as defined in the PTAFA? They might possibly get that idea if the lease was signed just before the auction.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

I wonder if they think the lease is not a "Bona fide lease" as defined in the PTAFA? They might possibly get that idea if the lease was signed just before the auction.

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Even if it isn't a bona fide lease, they still have to be given 90 days.