Lease remains in effect despite sheriff's sale

Q My husband and I are renting a house in Burnsville, with a lease through May. Two weeks ago we were served papers saying the house is up for sheriff's sale on March 11.

We plan to buy a home after our lease is up. What happens to our lease after the sheriff's sale and do we keep paying rent until then? I've heard that the sheriff might give us 24 hours' notice to vacate the property.

A When a sheriff's sale is scheduled, the property owner has the right to redeem the property up through the sale, and for a period afterward, generally six months.

Even though there is a sheriff's sale, your lease remains in effect until the redemption period expires. Even then, the mortgage company has to give you a 30-day notice to vacate the property, and cannot do so until after the redemption period.

Because the mortgage company can, under certain circumstances, have the redemption period shortened, you should try to contact them to see what is going on.

You should continue paying your rent to your landlord until directed otherwise by the mortgage company or the court.

You should never have a knock on the door from the sheriff telling you to be out in 24 hours unless you ignore mail from the mortgage company.

If a particular city requires a rental license, can a tenant use the absence of a license as grounds for breaking a lease?

A No. There are other grounds a tenant could use to terminate their lease early such as a unit being uninhabitable, code violations, etc., but not the absence of a rental license.

Also, if there's anything wrong with the tenant's apartment or building, the tenant needs to put it in writing first and send it to the landlord. The landlord has 14 days to correct the problem, and if it's not fixed within the 14 days, the tenant can pursue a rent escrow action against the landlord and request their lease be terminated. A tenant should never break a lease or move until after receiving approval from a court or entering into a written agreement with the landlord authorizing the tenant to move without penalty or additional rent.

There is case law that says that a landlord cannot collect rent on an unlicensed property, but again, a tenant should first get a court order authorizing the tenant to withhold rent before they begin doing so.