Investor · Little Rock, AR · Member since 2016 · 121 posts · 37 votes
I have a tenant not paying me April rent, and I just closed the transaction on selling the rental property today. How should I go about getting the rent money back?
You will have to take them to small claims court to collect if they refuse to pay. You will also be responsible for paying the buyer their prorated rent for April regardless of the fact that you did not receive the rent. You should have started the process to collect as soon as rent was not received on time.
Most landlord selling simply walk away from the loss.
Did they pay the old owner or not pay at all? if they didn't give a pay or quit then file for eviction. They could be testing you to see what they can get away with.
It's the 17th do if they paid the old owner for April, you should have gotten a partial payment (if it was part of your contract) for a half month's rent as part of the closing. You should have also gotten the tenant's security deposit. Check your closing documents to see what you received (if anything).
@Andrew Yu Just to clarify, you are selling the rental property not buying it. If you are selling it, talk to the tenants and tell them that they have to pay you. They might be thinking it can come out of their security deposit not knowing that you have to give that to the new owner.
You will have to take them to small claims court to collect if they refuse to pay. You will also be responsible for paying the buyer their prorated rent for April regardless of the fact that you did not receive the rent. You should have started the process to collect as soon as rent was not received on time.
Most landlord selling simply walk away from the loss.
I had this happen once. I was up front with the Buyer that that tenant's security deposit was used for rent. So I sold, kept the deposit, documented it to the tenant, then counted the deposit as regular rent income for taxes.
If I had sold mid-April, i would have kept the portion of the deposit to cover the rent and then gave the balance to the Buyer.