Do I Have To Honor A Lease?
I have just bought a SFR that has a tenant in it and they are not paying enough to cover my mortgage. My question is this:
Do I have to honor the lease they signed with the previous owner or can I raise the rent?
I would really like them gone as they are not the most clean people I have met. The property management company that has been managing them for the past 16 years (yes 16 years they have been there renting) says they do pay the rent but it is ALWAYS late.
Thank you
Their "lease" may not be valid lease, and it should be checked over.
In many states, it's NOT valid lease if not notarized, and if it's older than a year there's a good chance it's now just month-to-month, and 30 day eviction notice would legally terminate the tenants' rights.
I bought a property here in WA several years ago with an apparent long-term T who was paying almost nothing...but when I checked over the lease I found it was NOT valid, had never been notarized. A 30 day notice to the T got her out.
Remember though, as a lot of wise heads have observed, it's almost always easier on the property if you BUY them out instead of evicting...less tenant rage for them to take out on your house.
[addsig]
How do mean "Buy" them out?
It seems to me that if the tenants are ALWAYS late paying the rent then you being the new owner should notify them that as the new owner you can not except more than three (3) late rental payments, the 4th late payment would be grounds for eviciton. Put this in writing and have it delivered by certified mail, if you don't want to confront them personally. That way they can't deny every getting it because they would have to sign for it, if they refuse to accept receipt of the letter then that in itself should lean in your favor in court if you decided to evict because of constant lateness.
I don't see why you should accomadate them by paying for moving expenses and such.
tonya5015
Thank you guys for the replies.
Their lease is up at the end of November so I'll g ahea and let th stay untilhn. I am sending (by certifed mail) a notice of rent increase of $225 if they decide to renew.
A last thought---I don't know if I would send out that letter by certified mail. Certified mail has a negative connotation with it and it's not good for landlord-tenant relations. I would call them and have a conversation with them personally or write a nice note explaining the rent increase and send it using a 37c stamp.
That sounds like a good idea frog, I have met them and they seem really nice (just dirty) I did tell them that I would be raising the rent once I purchased it. Their lease runs out the first of Dec so I'll eat what I need to to keep all of us happy.
"Buy them out"...means it's probably better to offer to pay them something rather than your filing formal eviction docs.
An irate tenant wanting revenge isn't normally beneficial to your property, and it's my policy to offer them something positive to move & leave the property clean, etc.
Haven't had to formally evict a T yet, or had a T destroy a property out of a fit of insane rage...and I think the most I ever gave a T to help them move was $100.
[addsig]
Eviction here in LaLa land is an often repeated occurance and sometimes it is a bit hostile.
I bought a house in the Hollywood Hills some time ago at a foreclosure sale. The Trustee at the beginning of the sale noted a reduction in opening bid and when nobody bid he then in a plaintive tone solicited someone to bid and so I did a rather insignificant amount and he dropped it on me.
When I arrived at the property nicely located in the hills up above the Sunset Strip, up back of the Chateau Marmont I found a English Tudor House which looked like it had actualy been built back in that time. God knows nobody had painted it or much less cleaned it for the last 20 years.
I knocked on the door and found myself facing a rather strange man with long died black hair and a very expensive english shot gun of the over and under type.. Beautiful gun must have cost a fortune. We discussed the gun for awhile until I could get it away from him under the guise of estimating what he could sell it for. After drinks he informed me that he was tap city, had just sold his banjo and was now out of the music business. Anyway I bought the gun and I moved him the next day into my standby slum.
He loved his new digs, all of his friends in the music business were there. Amazing how many professional type musicians cannot read music. Thought a G cleft was a dirty word.
Moral: Always approach the front door on an eviction proceeding with great care, a lot of the materials stuffed up their noses or shot into their arm removes their ability to aim properly much less load, but why take a chance.
Damn fine gun fantastic steel engraving. No it was not loaded. YOu think I would have been so close if it had been. How do you tell?. Years of enforced marriages.
Cheers Lucius