California Tenant rights after foreclosure (federal PTFA, all states)

What federal protections does a tenant have after foreclosure in California?

Federal law that applies in every state: under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (made permanent in 2018), whoever takes over a home through foreclosure must give a bona fide tenant at least 90 days' notice to vacate. A tenant with a bona fide lease signed before the notice of foreclosure (the date title passes) can stay until the lease ends, unless the unit is sold to a buyer who will live there as a primary residence; that buyer must still give the 90-day notice. Month-to-month and at-will tenants also get the 90 days. A tenancy is bona fide only if the tenant is not the borrower or the borrower's child, spouse or parent, the deal was at arm's length, and the rent is not far below market (unless it is subsidized). State or local laws with longer notice or more protection still apply, and any state-specific rule on this page also applies. Statute text: "the provision, by such successor in interest of a notice to vacate to any bona fide tenant at least 90 days before the effective date of such notice" (Pub. L. 111-22, SEC. 702(a)(1)).

Verified Source: Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111-22, div. A, title VII, SEC. 702 (12 U.S.C. 5220 note), as amended by Pub. L. 111-203, SEC. 1484, and restored by Pub. L. 115-174, SEC. 304 (federal law, all states) · last checked 2026-10-17