A successor-in –interest after foreclosure has an implied duty under the Federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 to make “reasonable efforts to identify all bona fide tenants and determine whether they are entitled to continue as tenants under a bona fide lease for the remainder of the Lease’s term.” Under the Act, a subordinate bona fide lease survives foreclosure for the remainder of the term by operation of the Act, regardless of State law, and even if the unit was illegal, subject to the limited authority of the immediate successor-in-interest to terminate the Lease with property notice upon sale to a purchaser who intends to occupy the residence as their primary residence.
Nativi vs. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. (2014) 223 CA 4th 201