<p>Hello-I am writing in hopes you could advise us or at least refer us for assistance. My daughter is a student at UC Berkeley and rents a house with five other students on Haste St in Berkeley. They are on a one year lease which is up in June 2009, but I believe only one of the parents signed the lease (not me). One day recently they found a notice on their door that the property will be auctioned in Oct. What are their rights? Can they be evicted if the property is auctioned or foreclosed on? Are there any agencies that are assisting with placing students in housing that are in this situation? How does the fact that Berkeley has rent control enter into the equation? What steps do they need to take now to protect themselves? Any advice appreciated!</p>
<p>My (uninformed) guess is they have no rights in this case and will be summarily evicted.</p>
<p>Here are some resources:
[Berkeley</a> Rent Stabilization Board: Referral Services](<a href=“http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Rent/geninfo/10refers.html]Berkeley”>http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Rent/geninfo/10refers.html)</p>
<p>We had a business that we sold to friends 5 yrs ago. Part of the reason we sold it was because our landlord sold the property to a couple that we found difficult and unreasonable to deal with. The property consisted of a commercial storefront and two apartments. What should have been an ace in the hole for the new buyer ( long term renters in all three units ) ended up in a foreclosure.
Our friends are still there , operating the seasonal business and did not pay a dime in rent to anyone for this entire year.
No one is looking for it, and no one kicked them out. They have no lease any longer either, so obviously no security to continue to operate out of this location. The banks have been in contact , but chose not to pursue getting any money from them.
With any luck, your daughter and her roommates will also continue to live there while the owers that be figure out what to do next.</p>
<p>This is sort of a gray area and there really isn’t any formal protection for tenants in this situation, but as far as I know, they shouldn’t have to move out - at least not right away. But please contact the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board ASAP since I am no expert. </p>
<p>There are recent news articles in the SF Chronicle about this problem (sfgate.com) - horror stories of people getting notices to move in 24 hours, but others of people being able to stay without having to pay rent as the property is sold or kept on the market until a buyer is found.</p>
<p>Generally, once the bank takes the property the tenant(s) have very few rights if any. After the auction, if the bank retains the property they will have the right to evict. I would suggest checking with the college to see if they have housing resources available to help with finding a new rental. A couple of online resources would be [Rental</a> Foreclosure](<a href=“http://www.rentalforeclosure.com%5DRental”>http://www.rentalforeclosure.com) for checking to see if rentals are in foreclosure and [Tenants</a> Together<em>:</em>Index](<a href=“http://www.tenantstogether.org/]Tenants”>http://www.tenantstogether.org/) for resources after you find out.</p>
<p>I got a message today from Tenants Together regarding foreclosures. Our lovely governor just vetoed two bills that would help tenants in foreclosed properties. It seems that he doesn’t care if tenants get their deposits back or need utilities after foreclosure.</p>
<p>thanks everyone who replied…great referrals…I cross-posted the same topic over on the Parents thread as well…</p>