As a land lord myself, I've found that we're all different. I'd try giving a written 30 day notice and state the reason you're breaking the lease is due to the foreclosure. You may be wanting to stay in one place for years. You won't be able to stay in a foreclosure for years, that is for sure.

You need to remember that the lease is still in effect.

But the land lord may let you out of the lease due to what is going on with the house.

I would think once the foreclosure has happen that the new owner (usually the lien holder/bank) would be glad to get the home back on the market. That way the home could be sold to someone wanting to move into the home.

This new law is to protect the tenant. Many tenants were uprooted and had to find places to live "Now" This new law prevents that from happening.

Hello Cbmac;
The only problem I see is that you haven't been paying the rent. Who told you not to pay the rent? If the rent hasn't been paid, you could be evicted for non payment of rent.
I would think you would be notified, especially since the bank has been doing it all along.
If they tell you to move out, bring up SB896. "May 20, 2009 President Obama signed into law the passage of SB 896. (Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009)" The banks will know about this new law. According to the new law, you will be able to stay in the home till the end of the lease since you signed a new lease in January of this year. Unless it's an owner occupied buyer. Then you're looking at 90 days.
Let me know what happens.
Gilda Baxter
http://www.GildaBaxter.com

Hello Cbmac
You will be making rent payments during the 90 days or until the lease is up. Hope you guys come out ok. I know it's hard days for many people. I'm just very thankful that the tenants are being taken care during this time in our history.
Gilda Baxter
http://www.GildaBaxter.com

Hello Cbmac
Contact the new owner (make sure he is the new owner) (have him prove it) and tell him you don't want to stay a year, if truely you don't. Tell him you want to go on a month to month lease. Give him the reasons that you don't want to stay. Be honest. At this point sounds like he's not honoring the old lease anyway. Make sure you give him a month's notice, in writing, if he accepts a month to month lease. Could you be out by the end of September? Then give the 30 day notice if that's what you want. That may be the best for the both of you since you guys have hard feelings. The owner may not like a month to month, but you may not like the fact that you've gone through a foreclosure either. Just try and talk this out between the both of you, but let him know your feelings. Discuss with your mate what you guys really want to do. Once you know for sure, then approach the owner of the home you're in.
Let me know what happens. Many tenants have gone through this. It's very hard to have a home go into foreclosure. It's also very hard to be the tenant. My heart goes out to you guys...

Hello B;
I just wrote a Blog on this same subject. But for you I'll copy part of the Blog.
I’ve been asked on different occasions, what happens to the owner after the Foreclosure Sale. There are usually two different ways the new lien holder will handle the ex-owner of the foreclosed home.
1. The bank can offer what is called “Cash for Keys” Just remember the bank doesn’t have to offer anything. If they do offer this, I suggest you take it.
a. The amount of money offered will be determined by the home value, location, bank etc…
I’ve seen the amount as low as $300 and as high as $2,000.
Example: a $60,000 home may not get as much cash as a $260,000.
b. In return the ex-owner has to be out of the home within the determined amount of days. (anywhere between 10-30 days) You can negotiate the money amount and also the days.
c. The home will need to be left in a good clean condition. (inside and outside) That doesn’t mean all the repairs need to be done, but the home does need to be CLEAN inside and outside.
d. If it’s not clean, you don’t get any money.
e. The Realtor ® is the one that hands the Ex-owner the check. It’s in the vested interest of the Realtor® to make sure the place is clean. If the Realtor® still needs the home to be cleaned and the ex-owner has moved out. It is now the Realtor that will have to pay for the cleaning. So you can bet your bottom dollar that the Realtor® will want you to have leave the home clean.
And then there’s another way. And it’s not pretty…
2. Eviction
a. After the bank buys the property back, they will have a Realtor® market the home.
b. The Realtor® does not do the eviction.
c. The bank has attorneys that do that.
d. The attorney starts the eviction process just like a normal eviction.
e. It usually takes around 2 months.
f. After the date and time has been set for the eviction, the bank will want the Listing agent (Realtor ®) to have a crew of people remove the ex-owners belongings to the curb. Of course the sheriff will be there also.
g. The sheriff will escort the ex-owner from the home.
h. The home will be re-keyed.
i. After 24 hours the Bank will have a property preservation company remove any of the belongings that are still on the curb. (thrown into a dumpster and taken away)
j. “the neighbors may end up helping themselves to your belongings also”
k. This process can take around 60 days.
Just hope the Bank offers you “Cash for Keys” or you may even bring it up if they don’t.

Hello Cbmac
So sorry to hear about your problems. There are so many people going through things. It breaks my heart.

What your landlord can do since you didn't pay rent during the foreclosure process--

First let me say--you may want to talk to a lawyer about this just to be sure. There may be things I'm unaware of that a lawyer may know. It's always a good thing to check things out before you do something.

But since you didn't pay rent during the foreclosure, what I could see happening--- is you could be evicted.
If you're not out by the 1st part of October, he could start an eviction process on you. You may let him know that you plan on moving out and see if he'll give you another month. But as a landlord myself. I don't like vacant homes during the month of Nov or Dec. (It's harder to rent during those months--holidays) Maybe he'll go to Jan. 2010. I know I would.
He's going to want you out so he can get the place ready to rent. But it sure wouldn't hurt to ask for another month or two since he's raised the rent. You may even offer to pay the raised rent amount for a couple of months. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help. I think you need to talk to a lawyer on this one.

Let me know what you do and how it turned out. I surely don't mind hearing from you.
Gilda Baxter

Hello Manny
The 1 year lease has to start before the foreclosure process begins. Sounds like the process started before your 1st lease to me. Is that true? Since the lease started after the beginning of the foreclosure process, you may not be protected to the end of the lease. You could try and get the bank to honor the current lease.

And remember to always check advice with a lawyer to make sure you're ok.

Thanks for sharing,
Gilda Baxter

Hello Manny
Acording to the law, your lease has to start before the foreclosure started. I would hope that you could stay the 90 days. Keep record of paying all the rent and make sure you keep your lease. Have the paperwork ready, so when something comes down you can show the lien holder your paperwork. Let me know what happens. So many people are going through this at this time.

Hope this helps,
Gilda Baxter

Hello Manny
First-thank you for getting back to me. I did wonder what happened.
Just make sure the amount of rent collected is not substantially less than the going rent for the area.
Glad to help,
Gilda Baxter