Investor · Binghamton, NY · Member since 2014 · 118 posts · 66 votes
Hello BP Community!
What steps would you take to get inherited tenants to sign on to a new lease?
My brother and I recently purchased a mobile home park in Williamsport PA. Most of our tenants have met with our management team and signed our leases. We have several tenants owning their own mobile home that have refused to sign a new lease. They are up to date on rent. However, the previous owner's lease could be fit onto a napkin, and includes very little of the legal protections important to us in a lease.
What steps would you take to get tenants owning their own home to sign a new lease? Is threatening a 30 day notice too extreme? Thanks BP!
Why would you believe terminating a tenant on M2M is too extreme if they do not sign your new lease. That is exactly what you should do, why piddle around with rent increase when you have the authority to not renew if they do not sign. As long as they continue to not sign they believe they own you, how does that make you feel as the new owner.
You are a owner and a landlord, time to act like it and do the job. Sign or leave, s**t or get off the pot people.
Personally anyone that is refusing to sign I would be putting on a very short leash. Once they do decide to sign, following your threat to non renew, I would be putting them on my future eviction short list.. They are not the type of tenants I would be thinking of keeping.
Make sure you do have all tenants on M2M going forward.
A lease runs with the property. So, if it is current, the tenants are already under lease and you have to honor it. If the lease is expired, then you have more options.
If they have an existing lease that is not month to month then you pretty much have to let it play out or offer them something to sign it. Now if they are month to month now..... Start raising rent every couple months until they are on your lease. It's a bit more passive aggressive but a community letter going out, our month to month tenants will be increasing $25 on the first of June as always our tenants on lease will remain at least through the duration of the lease. If you are interested in signing the new lease agreement and remaining on month to month please contact the front office to avoid the increase by agreeing to the new verbiage......
Thanks @Mike Cumbie. Our inherited tenants are actually on a month to month lease. Which, speaking of, is what we also use for our newly installed tenants. I can see that threatening a rent increase could be a good motivator.
You'll have to honor the existing lease. If you've been unable to convince your tenants to sign, let let the old lease expire then present the new terms.
There should be a cancellation clause included in the lease they signed regarding transfer of ownership. I'd have to view the rental agreement but I'm almost positive there is a clause for transfer of ownership that wouldn't allow the current tenant to stay in the property.
Why would you believe terminating a tenant on M2M is too extreme if they do not sign your new lease. That is exactly what you should do, why piddle around with rent increase when you have the authority to not renew if they do not sign. As long as they continue to not sign they believe they own you, how does that make you feel as the new owner.
You are a owner and a landlord, time to act like it and do the job. Sign or leave, s**t or get off the pot people.
Personally anyone that is refusing to sign I would be putting on a very short leash. Once they do decide to sign, following your threat to non renew, I would be putting them on my future eviction short list.. They are not the type of tenants I would be thinking of keeping.
Make sure you do have all tenants on M2M going forward.
There are pretty much no clauses in the former owner's lease agreement. It was impressively terrible. His lease literally fit onto half a sheet of paper- basically it stated what the rent was, and that tenants could be evicted if they didn't pay, or sold drugs out of their house. No transfer clauses, etc.