Dear Anonymous,

It would be in your best interests to contact a loan real estate attorney to review your options. Generally speaking, the lease you describe (recently signed) is going to be subordinate-to the lien your landlord's former attorney placed on the land. Essentially that means that if the lienholder (the attorney) forecloses the property, your lease is extinguished because it came after the lien, and I am assuming that no memorandum of lease was ever recorded. Rights to property follow a very specific succession that is highly dependent upon timing (those who gain an interest in property prior-in-time to someone else have greater rights); but it also has to do with the type of interest each person holds. When a lienholder sells the property to satisfy the lien, then it is very much like a foreclosure which extinguishes all subsequent property rights such as leases entered into after the lien was recorded. I would suggest speaking with a real estate attorney to determine what your rights are after a thorough review of all required information - the chain of title to the property, the lien sale proceedings, your lease, etc... this sort of review may change your rights from the default rule which is that you may be entirely out-of-luck. You can, however, sue the landlord for damages for breach of the lease. Your new attorney can also contact the attorney who is foreclosing to see if a deal can be made to retain your lease post-lien sale. The only suggestion I have that might have avoided this is to check the chain of title to any property you intend to lease before entering into a lease - it might have at least tipped you off to this problem.

David L. Gibbs, Esq.
The Gibbs Law Firm, APC
San Clemente, California
david.gibbs@gibbslaw.com

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