Renters may think that because you pay your rent in full and on time every week, there's no way you could ever be evicted. But with the current housing crisis in the U.S., this isn't a safe bet.

 The upsurge in foreclosures isn't just affecting homes owned by the people who live in them but is also causing trouble for renters when their landlords lose the home due to trouble paying the mortgage. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly 20 percent of recent foreclosures have been against borrowers who are renting their home to another individual or family.

Lawyers who specializing in helping renters with problems have said that these types of eviction cases are on the rise. For instance, in recent months, one in four calls about housing matters to the Legal Services of Greater Miami's renter advocacy phone line has been about foreclosures and possible evictions. The group says the rate of these types of complaints is up sharply from last year.

If you're a renter caught up in one of these cases, it doesn't matter how long your lease was for or how prompt you've been with your payments-you'll still be evicted when the bank takes possession of your landlord's property. If the first time you hear about the foreclosure is when local authorities place a writ of possession on your door, you may have only a few days to move out. If you find out earlier in the process, you may still only have a few weeks or at most a few months to find other living arrangements. How soon you'd have to leave after receiving an eviction notice would also depend on the law in your state.

If you're not sure how long you can stay in the house after foreclosure, you can call the county sheriff's department to find out when the foreclosure auction took place and if an eviction date has been scheduled.  The sheriff's office conducts the eviction, so they will be the best source of information about court proceedings.

In a few cases, the bank's attorney will keep collecting rent from the tenants, so it's in a renter's best interest to keep paying the rent in full and on time even after learning that the property is going through foreclosure. However, this kind of arrangement is rare. Tenants rights groups agree that most lenders are not interested in dealing with tenants and just want the property to be vacated immediately after they take possession. This may be due to liability issues- it's less risky for a bank to leave a house vacant than to deal with the complications that come from dealing with tenants. In some cases, mortgage lenders will give cash payments to tenants in order to encourage them to leave the property quickly and without leaving any damage behind.

If you find out late in the process, a local law enforcement official will likely give you a copy of a court order called an "execution for ejectment." If this court order gives you only a few days (or as little as 24 hours) to move out of the property and make other arrangements, you may want to talk to a lawyer, as rules about evictions vary from state to state.

On the final day, if you're still not moved out of the property, a marshal will arrive with movers, and your possessions will be put in storage. You will have 15 days to claim your things, and after that time, the municipality has the right to auction off whatever you haven't claimed from storage.

If you find out about the foreclosure earlier in the process, it's a good idea to discuss the issue with your landlord. You can talk over the options and even find out whether there's any way to prevent the loss of the home and stop the foreclosure.