More than 1,000 Stockton tenants will get a letter in the mail this week warning them that their landlord is in trouble with the bank.

The letters are coming from Tenants Together, a statewide organization for renters' rights, and are focused on Stockton because nearly half of the city's foreclosures are rentals.

Tenants Together scoured property records to generate a list of non-owner occupied homes that are in various stages of foreclosure.

"Most tenants in foreclosure situations are blindsided by the foreclosure," program coordinator Gabe Treves said. "They pay their rent every month, and they think as a result they will continue to be able to live in their homes."

Federal law requires a minimum 90 days notice following a foreclosure sale before tenants can be forced to move. Tenants with leases may continue living in a bank-owned home through the end of their lease unless the new owner intends to occupy it.

Treves said many real estate agents and attorneys representing banks try to bully tenants into moving out of their homes before they really have to.

Any California renter is invited to call the Tenants Together hotline at 888-495-8020 to see if their landlord is facing foreclosure.

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