questions & answers

Question: We're renting a home and have 9 months left in our 12 month lease. We just found out the property foreclosed and the home sold. We've been offered money to leave in 30 days. We are protected under the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act, and can stay for the duration of our lease. We are willing to leave in 60-90 days, to give us time to find another rental. If the PTFA expires on 12/31/14 are we still protected on 1/1/15? Can they give us more time but then come back on Jan. 1st and evict us? Are we protected past the expiration of the act because we signed our lease before the foreclosure?

Answer: Renters are permitted to stay for the duration of the lease providing that the following requirements are met: There is a valid lease (not the end of the lease term), The lease was signed before receiving notice of foreclosure (whether judicial foreclosure or trustee sale), and The new owner does not intend to occupy the property as a primary residence. Renters Cannot Stay But Must Be Given Notice IF: In most other situations, the renters will have to leave, once the foreclosure is complete, and upon receiving 90 days notice from the new owner. The common situations where a renter will have to vacate after the foreclosure upon receiving notice are: Renters must vacate if there is a valid lease and they had notice of foreclosure before signing the lease; or Renters must vacate if there is a valid lease, and even if there was no notice of foreclosure but the new owner intends to occupy the property as a primary residence; or Renters must vacate if there is no valid lease, including where a lease expires and the renter is paying month-to-month. PTFA ends December 31, 2014. The law has what is called a sunset provision, meaning it has an expiration date. The original date was extended in the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act”, so that the law will be repealed on December 31. 2014. When laws are written, the legislative body writing the law may set a date of when that law will end, referred to as a “sunset” clause or provision (Note: Not all laws have sunset provisions, it is not required). The PTFA is a federal law, Congress would have to authorize and extension or make the law permanent and the President would have to sign it into law. Source: See 12 U.S.C. 5220 or search the US Code online with the US House of Representatives website. For additional information see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website.