If the home you rent is sold at a foreclosure sale, federal law lets you stay for at least 90 days after the new owner gives you proper notice, and often longer if you hold a fixed-term lease. How long a tenant can stay in a foreclosed property depends on three things: whether your lease is fixed-term or month-to-month, whether the buyer plans to move in as their primary residence, and whether your state gives you more time than the federal floor.
The 90-Day Federal Minimum
The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act sets the baseline in every state. Whoever acquires a foreclosed residential property must give any qualifying tenant at least 90 days’ notice before requiring them to vacate.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 – Assistance to Homeowners The law was first enacted in 2009 and made permanent in 2018.2Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Comptroller’s Handbook – Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act It covers single-family homes, condos, and multi-unit apartments, and applies to nearly every residential foreclosure in the country.3FDIC. Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009
The 90 days is a floor, not a ceiling. The PTFA explicitly preserves any state or local law that gives tenants more time or adds procedural protections.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 – Assistance to Homeowners A handful of states require longer notice. Check your state’s landlord-tenant statutes before counting only on the federal 90 days.
When the 90 Days Start Running
The clock does not start at the auction. The new owner cannot issue a notice to vacate until they have actually taken title to the property, which happens when a court order or deed transfer is recorded after the foreclosure sale.4Federal Register. Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act – Guidance on Notification Responsibilities A notice of default, a scheduled sale date, or a letter from the lender does not count.
Once the new owner sends a proper notice to vacate, the 90-day period begins on the date you actually receive it, not the date it was mailed or posted.2Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Comptroller’s Handbook – Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act Write down the date you first see the notice, keep a copy, and photograph the envelope or how it was delivered. If the new owner never sends a proper notice, they cannot begin eviction proceedings against you at all.
Fixed-Term Lease or Month-to-Month: The Big Variable
The PTFA treats these two situations very differently, and this is the single biggest factor in how long you’ll stay.
If You Have a Fixed-Term Lease
If you signed a lease with a specific end date, and the lease began before the foreclosure title transfer, you can generally stay until that lease expires. That might be two months away or ten.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 – Assistance to Homeowners The new owner steps into your old landlord’s shoes and has to honor the remaining term. You keep paying rent on the same schedule and under the same terms, and the new owner can pursue an ordinary eviction only if you stop paying or otherwise violate the lease.
Find your signed lease and keep a copy somewhere accessible. If the new owner claims you don’t have one, the burden is on you to produce it, and a lease sitting in a former landlord’s file cabinet may be hard to retrieve once ownership has changed.
If You Rent Month-to-Month or At Will
Without a fixed end date, the 90-day notice is essentially your timeline.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 – Assistance to Homeowners You get 90 days from receipt of the notice to find a new place and move out. If your state requires a longer notice period to end a month-to-month tenancy, that longer period applies.
The One Way a Lease Gets Cut Short: Primary Residence
There is a single scenario in which a fixed-term lease does not carry you through to its end date. If the person who bought the property at the foreclosure sale intends to live in it as their primary residence, they can terminate the lease early.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 5220 – Assistance to Homeowners This exception is narrow. It does not apply to banks, investment firms, corporate buyers, or anyone planning to rent the property out or resell it. It covers only individual purchasers who actually plan to move in.
Even then, you still get the full 90-day notice. The new owner can’t demand immediate possession just because they intend to live there.
Who Counts as a Tenant Under the Law
The PTFA protections apply only to a “bona fide” tenant, meaning your rental arrangement meets three conditions:3FDIC. Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009
- You are not the borrower who defaulted on the mortgage, or that person’s spouse, child, or parent.
- Your lease was a genuine arm’s-length transaction, not an arrangement set up to delay foreclosure.
- Your rent is at or near market rate, unless a government subsidy accounts for the difference.
HUD publishes Fair Market Rent figures for every metropolitan area and county, and those are a common reference point for whether rent is reasonable.5HUD User. Fair Market Rents A subsidized rent that falls below market still qualifies.
Extra Protection for Section 8 Voucher Holders
If you rent with a Housing Choice Voucher, the PTFA requires the new owner to honor both your existing lease and the Housing Assistance Payment contract with the local housing authority. The new owner becomes the landlord under the voucher program and keeps receiving the subsidy. The only way to end your Section 8 lease early is the same primary-residence exception that applies to market-rate leases, with the same 90-day notice.6FDIC. Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act Foreclosure by itself is not a reason to terminate a Section 8 tenancy. Call your local housing authority as soon as you learn of the foreclosure so they can track the ownership change and keep the subsidy flowing.
Paying Rent in the Meantime
You still owe rent while all of this plays out. Until the new owner contacts you with payment instructions, hold the money. A separate account for those payments protects you against any claim that you simply stopped paying.
Be cautious about anyone who shows up claiming to be the new owner. Scammers monitor public foreclosure records and approach tenants posing as the buyer to collect rent.7CFPB. What Should I Do if the House or Apartment I’m Renting Goes Into Foreclosure Before paying anyone or signing a new lease, ask for documentation. You can also check the county recorder’s office yourself, since deeds are public records.
If You Stay Past the Deadline
Once your 90-day notice period or lease term runs out, you are expected to leave. If you don’t, the new owner still cannot change the locks, remove your belongings, or shut off utilities. Every state bans those self-help tactics. They have to file a formal eviction lawsuit, serve you with court papers, and get an order from a judge. Only a law enforcement officer can carry out the actual removal.
The court process gives you a chance to raise defenses, including that the new owner never gave a proper 90-day notice or that your lease has time left on it. Depending on local court backlogs, formal eviction usually adds another 30 to 60 days on top of the notice period. Added together, tenants sometimes remain in the property for five or six months after the foreclosure sale.
That extra time is not free. An eviction filing shows up on tenant screening reports, which most landlords check before approving an application, and federal law allows that record to stay there for up to seven years.8CFPB. Review Your Rental Background Check Leaving on your own, within the notice period, keeps that record clean.