Upcoming Foreclosures

Any real estate gurus familiar with foreclosures that can explain this situation to me?

I recently acquired a lease on a home that is foreclosed on or in preforeclosure status. My landlord is a corporation in S. Cal that buys foreclosures/short sales from banks. My lease agreement has a supplement that states: Tenant understands that the home is in foreclosure and the landlord is attempting to purchase from bank. Landlord has an agreement with the owner to purchase as a lease with option to buy subject to bank apprval. Tenant has first right of refusal to purchase from landlord as a lease with option to buy upon landlord buy. 5% down for term of 12 months for option to buy. We just moved in last month, this corporation has not received an answer from the bank yet. The owner actually came buy last weekend, not realizing there were tenants in his home. He said it was a short sale and he's still the owner. He is now authorizing his agent to show the property to prospective buyers before we've been given the right to make an offer to the landlord. What are my rights?

Public Comments

1. I don't think the man you rented from had any right to let you have the place. From what you say, he does not own the property yet, so he committing a crime in letting it to you. I would think the present owner could have you evicted. Check with a Realtor.
2. You don't have a valid contract for lease as the person holding your paper has never had valid title to the property. The "owner" never entered into ANY contract with you and as such you can be considered a interloper. Your argument, if you have one, is to sue the landlord for offering a contract of realestate without being able to defend its terms. You MIGHT have to sue the owner too inorder to get it on the record just WHAT understanding the landlord and the owner MAY have entered into as it pertains to leasing the property. IF the owner KNEW what the landlord was doing and did not move to stop it, you MAY have at mininum an estate in contract (a right to live on the property subject to all the terms of the lease) Time to lawyer up or else call U-Haul.
3. Those are scams and I would encourage you to move as soon as possible. Have you seen a copy of your landlord's credit report? Here is the problem: 1. Your "landlord" isn't your landlord b/c he has already told you that he hasn't bought the property yet. 2. That means you have signed a lease with someone that doesn't own the property...which means your lease isn't worth the paper it's written on...he had no legal right to enter the property into a lease. 3. So the bank or the homeowner, can evict you at any time b/c you don't have a contract with the REAL owner of the home. 4. You don't even know if your "landlord" is credit worthy enough to even buy the house...so essentially, you entered a "lease" where you can be asked to leave on any given day. 5. A shortsale isn't the same as a pre-foreclosure...you have to be on-time with the payments before most banks will agree to a short sale, and that is why the real owner has the luxury of listing the property with a Realtor. 6. If you want to buy the home...why can't you just make an offer to the real owner. You don't have any rights dear for all of the reasons I have stated above. You can't enter into a lease on property you down own.