Foreclosure Auction - Dealing with Occupants

[Viana Bailey]

Hello,

I just purchased a property from the foreclosure auction in South Jersey. I just found out the owner up and left & wants nothing to do with the property. The people currently living in the property are family members of the owner. There is no lease & they have been living in the home rent free for months. How should I go about getting them out? 

[Andy Mirza]

@Viana Bailey Do you have the Deed to the property yet that proves that you are the new owner of record? If not, you need to get that first before you take any enforcement action. Even before you have that, you or a real estate agent can make contact directly with the occupants and try to come to an agreement for them to vacate the property. Cash for Keys is the most common type of agreement in which you offer cash to the occupants (typically, no more than 1% of the value of the property) in exchange for the occupants to vacate the property within 30 days, leaving it in broom swept condition. This agreement needs to be signed ASAP. You or your agent hands the occupants the check on move out day, assuming that they've left it in broom swept condition. Don't waste too much time if they play games. Some occupants will say that they'll cooperate and keep delaying as long as possible. At a certain point, contact your eviction attorney and let them do the eviction. CFK is preferable since it's better to have cooperation and decrease the likelihood that they're going to trash the place.