Have any of you have experience or advice on how to handle closing of the house with existing Tenant? It is in the city without rent control and Tenants have been served 60 days notice (have been in the property for long term). 60 days will be up during the time property might be closing, and current landlord won’t be taking rent money after 60 days is up. Tenant said (according to Listing Agent) to be looking for a new place but there is a chance they might not be able to get out before closing.
What are my options when property is closed and they are still in the property? I can talk about new lease with me with raised rent (current rent is quite under market).
Convince them to move by offering incentives if necessary (e.g. their full deposit back if they move early). I have never had a positive outcome from a long-term (multi-year) tenant staying on in a property that has been purchased. They seem to build up a sense of entitlement / ownership which tends to brew trouble down the road. Sounds harsh, but I had stuff stolen, rent not payed, evictions, etc. Really shakes your trust in humanity. If i haven’t vetted a tenant, I am not interested in keeping them
Thanks for the advice on incentives. But what I am worry is that their 60 days notice will be up before my closing (hence I am not the new owner yet). But if the current owner let them stay with no rent and I assume original lease is voided since there was 60 days notice and that owner didn’t enforce it. If they were nice tenant, they would have moved out before 60 days, right? So even if I have to evict them, would it be issue that someone let them stay for like 2-3 weeks after they were supposed to be out.
I feel like there should be something I could ask current owner to have the tenant signed.
Does the contract say the property is to be delivered vacant? I had a similar situation recently (@Elt1 told me to chill and just go with it), and it worked out ok. Tenant stayed a week past. if the 60 day notice period is ending before you close escrow, you could ask the owner to start eviction or at least post a quit notice or something.
Contract says seller won’t guarantee that they will deliver vacant. I am still in the contingency period that I can cancel the contract. But 60 days period will end after the contingency period but before close of Escrow.
Seller just wanted to move on with their 1031 Exchange, so wanted to sell as-it.
The tenant is probably looking but may not have been able to lock anything down yet because she can’t afford the higher rents now or maybe she can’t find anything locally or in the areas she is interested in. Tenants are fairly savvy to know that they can go to the local rent board for assistance. Well, you mentioned that the jurisdiction has no rent control. So, what can she really do? As long as she was properly served notice to vacate and there is no rent control she is going to be out of luck one way or another. Yes, worst case scenario you end up having to evict her to retain possession since she wouldn’t leave voluntarily. Ok, fine. At least you don’t have to pay blood money for each tenant like in the Fab 7x7. If the house is a good deal, let the process work through. She probably knows or you need to remind her once the house is yours that if she thought it was hard finding a place with a clean record, imagine if you have an eviction on your record. No one in his or her right mind would rent to her.
My co-worker had to go through the same situation but in the Fab 7x7 and while it did take awhile and he ended up having to give the required blood money, his tenant was paying rent but was just dragging it out. In that time, my co-worker made a nice appreciation since he got a great deal on the home and homes on his block are going much higher now. If you have to evict, you evict, and move on. Part of doing business, Sir…
I bought a triplex in Oakland with tenants. Surprisingly, there weren’t any major issues. Everyone pays rent and for the most part things have been quiet.
If the tenant pays low rent and you do not want to evict them, there should be no problem. If the tenant stops paying, that’s a gift to you in rent controlled cities
