As a tenant, do I have any protections?

If you are a tenant, you may have protections under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA). The purpose of the PTFA is to give tenants time to move after a foreclosure. Under the PTFA, a new owner must give “bona fide tenants” at least 90 days to move before filing an eviction.

You are a bona fide tenant, protected by the PTFA, if you fulfill ALL of these requirements:

1. You are NOT the previous owner and are NOT the spouse, parent, or child of the owner.
2. The previous owner required you to pay an amount that is around fair market rent. If you were paying rent that was lower than fair market rent, it must be due to a federal, state, or local subsidy.
3. You and the previous owner entered into the agreement without pressure or threats. Both parties were acting of their own free will.
4. You were renting the property before it transferred to the new owner.

NOTE: The PTFA only applies to tenants living in a home in foreclosure. It does not cover tenants facing eviction in a non-foreclosed property. The PTFA does not apply to tenants with a fraudulent lease, or homeowners in foreclosure.