The Bush administration's announcement Tuesday that it would put the foreclosure process on hold for 30 days to rescue struggling homeowners came several weeks too late for Mike Salgado. And he's not even a homeowner.

Salgado, 40, is one of many renters who have found themselves homeless after their cash-strapped landlords stopped making mortgage payments and their houses or apartment buildings were foreclosed upon.

The California Apartment Association, the state's largest organization of rental property owners, estimated that as much as a quarter of all foreclosed single-family residences are occupied by renters. The number of renters ensnared in the forclosure fiasco is even larger when duplexes and other multi-unit buildings are factored in.

And the evictions show no sign of abating. Total foreclosures of single-family homes statewide rose more than 400 percent to a record 31,676 in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

"It's definitely happening," said Phyllis Rockower, president of the 850-member Real Estate Investors Club of Los Angeles. "People e-mail me all the time with the saddest stories.

"Her own child is facing eviction from her rented home in Colorado.

Rockower's daughter, Eileen Bronchick, 39, said she received notice last month that the landlord of her town house had missed mortgage payments and that she might have to move if the property is foreclosed upon.

For many such people, this can mean even steeper rents because the wave of foreclosures has spurred greater demand for rental housing -- a blessing to landlords who don't have banks breathing down their necks.

State and local officials say many evictions could be avoided if people knew the legal protections available to them. However, few lenders and property managers make such information available during the eviction process.

"The whole thing is terrifying," said Michaelyn Jones, general counsel to the Santa Monica Rent Control Agency, which oversees some of California's toughest rent-control rules. "It's something a number of jurisdictions have been discussing because it's a growing problem.

"Many foreclosed properties were purchased by real-estate speculators taking advantage of dirt-cheap loans, who subsequently rented them to tenants before falling behind on mortgage payments.

To help remedy the situation, the Bush administration and six major lenders said they would "pause" foreclosures for troubled homeowners. The plan, dubbed "Project Lifeline," is intended to give lenders time to work out more affordable terms for borrowers.

Salgado, who works as service manager for a San Bernardino boat dealer, returned to his rented Hesperia house Jan. 23 to find a notice from his property manager, Century 21 Fairway Realty, informing him that the property had been foreclosed upon.

The notice offered an "assistance check" in the amount of $1,250 if Salgado would agree to get out of the house by Feb. 5.

"It is to your benefit to accept this assistance check," it said. "Please keep in mind that the eviction process has started.

"Offering financial inducements is a common practice when renters are being pushed to vacate a foreclosed-upon property. It's called "cash for keys" and can involve payments of up to $1,500, ostensibly to help a tenant resettle but also to get him or her to waive any claims to the rental property.

Salgado was told by Century 21 that if he didn't agree to the deal right away, his resettlement money would be slashed to $750 within a week and then to $500 a week after that. Then it would drop to nothing, and he'd still have to move out.

"I felt very pressured," Salgado recalled.

State officials said that under California law, existing rental agreements are essentially wiped out when a property is foreclosed upon. All that's required is that a tenant be given at least 30 days' notice that he or she is being evicted.

But those officials also said state law can be trumped by local rent-control statutes, which often provide tenants with more far-reaching protections.

These "just cause" provisions of many municipal rent-control laws limit the ability of landlords to evict tenants, even those on month-to-month leases. They also include cases when ownership of a property changes hands, such as a foreclosure.

However, not all "just cause" provisions are created equal. Some require that a tenant occupy a property for at least two years before an eviction notice is served. Others allow an eviction to proceed if the landlord plans to remove the property from the rental market or have a relative move in.

Moreover, not all rental properties may fall under a city's rent-control protections. In such cases, state law would likely apply, which would allow a foreclosure-related eviction to go ahead.

"In that case, the tenant may be in a really lousy position," said Al Shelden, chief of consumer law in state Attorney General Jerry Brown's office. "There may not be many rights to begin with.

"Anyone receiving a notice from a bank or property manager saying their rented home has been foreclosed upon should contact City Hall and ask about what rent-control rules may exist in your area and whether your property is protected.

Then ask the bank or property manager to specify the legal grounds for the eviction. If nothing else, this could result in a more generous payout to get you moving.

"And always get it in writing," advised Adam Radinsky at the Santa Monica consumer protection unit.

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