Inheriting Tenants | What happens with the security deposit

[Kiersten Vogt]

Hello all!

I've already learned a valuable lesson in investing in small mutlfiamilies - including what happens to the security deposits in the initial offer.

We close on a duplex next week and I was under the impression we would receive a credit for the security deposits at closing. 

However, the agent for the seller is trying to tell me that the seller is going to keep the security deposit as rent if the tenant doesn't pay February's rent. Is that allowed?! She's saying I then have to collect another security deposit from the tenant.

The tenant is on a month to month lease and the agent is saying the seller is allowed to keep it since it's a month to month lease... but wouldn't be allowed to keep it if it was a yearly lease. But it's still a lease and the tenant wasn't given notice to move out - just notice of the sale of the property. 

What do I do? 

[David Steinbok]

it is supposed to go to new owner. It's technically the tenents money and is only being held in trust by the landlord. So if there is a new landlord then the security deposits just get moved to new owner to hold on to. You cant expect a tenent to come up with 2 months rent just because someone bought their apt. They have a hard enough time as it is just paying rent.