Buried in a housing law signed last week by President Barack Obama are protections that will help thousands of renters stay in their homes — at least for a while — after their landlords have been foreclosed on.

The law allows tenants to remain in their foreclosed rentals through the end of their leases and then 90 days after that before being forced to vacate by lenders. Renters without leases will have 90 days, a big improvement over what most received before: almost no notice at all.

“Until this law was enacted, there had been no national protections for any of these households,” said Linda Couch, deputy director at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “This gives renters time to adjust their lives.”

Now, renters like Rittie Brantley, 49, have more time in their apartments. Just before Thanksgiving , a bank representative told Brantley she had to move from her apartment in New Haven, Conn., because the landlord was in foreclosure. Her lease, which expires in June, didn’t matter, he told her.

“I had a week to be out,” said Brantley, who depends on government aid to help pay the rent. “I don’t want to move to a bad neighborhood.”

Instead, Brantley took her case to the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.

With the new law, “overnight, she received the right to live there through June and three months after that,” said Amy Marx, the attorney who represents Brantley.

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