Foreclosure tenant situation

[Trever Good]

This is a re-post, this time in the correct forum. I’ve got an opportunity to buy a foreclosed 2 unit duplex from a wholesaler. This property comes with tenants already in place, but “since it came out of foreclosure” the wholesaler can’t tell me anything about them.

I’m concerned as to how to proceed. I’m not against keeping good tenants in place but the wholesaler has no information about leases, tenant history, etc. For all I know, the ‘tenants’ could very well be the former owner on one side and family on the other.

I’m concerned about the following:

If they are legit tenants, have they been paying rent during foreclosure and if so, to whom?

How can I determine status of security deposit? If previous owner collected SD, am I obligated to credit tenants? If so, how would I ever be able to tell if any damage was committed by them or was previous to their move in?

Can I make contact via snail mail to the residents prior to contract? Wholesaler requests no disruption to tenants and drive by showing only.

As always BP, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!