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Guidance as a tenant in a foreclosure

I am currently based in San Antonio, TX and we recently discovered that our rental is being foreclosed upon due to non-payment by the landlord since we moved into the house. Unfortunately, this is something we discovered through public records and not by a disclosure from the landlord. We checked with the county due to constant receipt mailers from lawyers on how to stop foreclosure. There was public auction, but it has a temporary stay until our original lease ends at the end of the month.

This is where our concerns begin.

A few days before we discovered the foreclosure/auction, we signed a lease extension for another year. We signed it and the property management company signed it. To the best of my knowledge, the property manager has the authority to sign on behalf of the property owner, but I have no guarantee of this.

  • Is the new lease valid? As it was not signed by the landlord and the home was listed as public foreclosure at the time, I'm not certain that it is.

  • If the new owner (when the house sells) does not want us to remain, how long can we expect to remain in the house? My understanding is that we should have 90 days or until the lease ends, whichever is greater, but this presupposes that the extended lease is actually valid.

  • If the new owner honors the new lease due to legal requirements or a perception of legal requirements, but they want us out, what recourse do they have? Can they effectively force us out by harassment or fabricating a violation of the lease?

A few notes:

  • The property owner has apparently not shared with the bank that there is a new lease in play and they are no longer communicating with the property owner.

  • We are not currently paying rent (at the recommendation of the property manager) until the owner confirms retention of the property or the new owner is identified. We are ready to pay rent and any back rent the instant either one of those conditions is satisfied. If the current owner is not the legal owner, the property manager does not want to give him the rent and force us into a situation where the new owner is asking for money that we don't have. To be clear, the property manager will not accept payment from us until he has confirmation that the landlord is still the legal owner of the property because if he is not, the property management company has no legal right to collect rent on a unit they no longer represent as their relationship is null and void if the property is sold, regardless of method.

  • We have a potential interest in leaving at the end of our original lease, but this exposes us to the risk that the new owner sees the extended lease as valid and can come after us for any rent through the end of the agreement. Is this a valid concern?

  • Due to the inability to pay anyone while this is sorted out, can this be used as a sign of non-payment when the new owner takes over even though I have the money and I am ready to make all back payments?

I have a pregnant wife and a child that is supposed to start school in a month, so the lack of information is obviously frustrating. Our great preference would be to stay in the house through the extended lease period so that we may continue saving for a home purchase. We are deeply concerned of potential "funny business tactics" that may be used even though we are not contesting the validity of payments.

What can we do?

submitted by /u/dreamscapesaga
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/cbo3bm/guidance_as_a_tenant_in_a_foreclosure/
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