Property under contract and new tenants leased

[Josh Setterbo]

Hi BP,

We have a triplex under contract on the Texas Coast and about 1 week from close the current property manager leased out the second unit. When making an offer and having it accepted, 1 of the 3 units was leased.

The triplex was damaged in Hurricane Harvey and it was stated that the seller was not wanting to lease the property until it was sold. Now we understand that we cannot change the lease until it is up in November. A few questions as we are buying this long-distance and haven't seen the property.

1. Does this sound strange and perhaps unethical? We cannot set our own lease until the current leases expire.

2. Should this have been cleared with us first as we are under contract and close to closing?

3. Is this a situation that we could terminate the contract?

Thank you so much for your input!

Josh Setterbo

[Fred Heller]

Not an attorney. If you were represented by a Realtor he/she would have used the TREC 1-4 family purchase agreement. There is a clause in that contract that specifically states that the seller may not enter into any new leases without the express written consent of the buyer. You should have received a copy of the executed contract. The pertinent language is in paragraph 10. The triggering date is the "effective" date of the contract. That would be the date it was executed, which is at the bottom of the contract.

If you did not have your own representation and did not use the TREC contract, then you're on your own. You're at the mercy of whatever terms are in the contract you signed.