Lease/Purchase Question..

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I will try to make this short.. My wife and I own a house that we signed a lease purchase agreement with another couple... We are about 6 months into the lease and would like to know if we have to follow through with the deal.. Are there any examples that could possibley allow us to cancel this agreement? Do we have the right as property owners, OR are we forced to go through with the deal?

Thanks in advance..

Comments(5)

  • Konte11th July, 2005

    When you make up the Lease/Purchase Agreement a 2 things should be clearly spelled out, one is the sale price,second is the period you will allow them to make a desicion, 3 or 6 months is the norm. Also some tenants would like some of their rent money to go towards the purchase but again that is something that is agreed upon signing the agrement. If your agreement states none of the above write to them on the subject saying you have to know what their decision is on the purchase, if their reply is negative then this is an opportunity for you to put a dealine date toward the www.perchase.Make sure their reply is in writing Amend the existing Agreement or make up a new Lease if they want to keep on living there. Keep in mind this does not mean that at a later date they will not change their mind to buy the house,however your asking price may change right? with property values going up and up It may be something you may consider,you are the boss.. Keep me posted I would like to see how it turns out for you.

  • fh4rent16th July, 2005

    I am only a newbie but it sounds like they are already in breach of the contract and you have options to renegotiate, or possibly even evict them. I am making a lot of assumptions regarding the contract of course.
    Good Luck, Don

  • d_random13th July, 2005

    You cannot "up the rent a little" because they are young. Ideas like this are going to run you afoul with fair housing laws. Do not ask for their parents contact info. Do not use the word "student" or mention their age. If you do, they could complain to HUD and get you investigated. Here are some other similar post to elaborate:

    http://www.thecreativeinvestor.com/residential/ViewTopic47968-24.html

    http://www.thecreativeinvestor.com/residential/ViewTopic47927-24.html

  • bgrossnickle13th July, 2005

    If you are a landlord, you ask if they have someone who could guarantee the lease. You do not ask if their parents could guarantee the lease.

    Why is everyone so hung up on age? It makes me realize why there are fair housing laws. Not wanting to rent to somone because of their age is equivilent in the eyes of the law as not wanting to rent to people because they are Jewish or Musleum, or because their heritage is African or Latin.

    If you have good selection critieria you do not need to discriminate to get good tenants.

    Brenda

  • NewKidinTown216th July, 2005

    Tenants without a credit history and students with no steady source of income always fail my credit screening criteria.

    I ask if there is someone else, perhaps parent(s), who would be willing to cosign the lease to bring up the credit score. If so, and we get an acceptable credit score among all the cosigners, then I may also ask for 1.5 to 2 months rent as a security deposit. My state does not permit collecting last months rent in advance, but the landlord-tenant laws do allow a security deposit up to two months rent.

    For multiple tenants, you also want to make sure your lease makes all tenants and cosigners "jointly and severally liable" for the rent.

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