How to inherit a tenant after buying a property?

Question

I have recently bought a duplex with 1 unit being occupied. Any suggestions on how I inherit the tenant's lease? Since he did not apply for a lease with me, I do not have a background check, SSN, or credit report.

Eliott Elias · Answer

You will need to honor the existing lease, no changes can be made until the lease has expired. You will need the deposits and a copy of the existing lease.

Garrett Christensen · Answer

Typically the purchase contract will spell out what your obligations are for keeping the existing tenant. Likely you'll need to honor the existing lease if there is one. If not, then there are also going to be other laws surrounding how long of notice you'll need to give them if you want them to move.

What I would suggest, if you even have the option of replacing them, is just to have them apply as if they weren't living there. Have them fill out an application, run background, etc. Just communicate well with them why you're doing this. If they qualify, it's much better to keep them than to have a turnover. It's also probably best to not charge them any application fees and give them as much notice as possible with all of this.

If you treat your tenants right, they'll usually treat your property right.

Randy Rodenhouse · Answer

Do you want to make sure you get a copy of the lease and read it over to make sure there is nothing in there that you don't like (i.e. can rent it for 10 years without rent increases or something crazy like that). You also want to get the security deposit from the seller.  Also get an estoppel letter from the tenant. The tenant estoppel should have the start date of the lease, current rent amount, the current deposit amount, all occupants, any pets or pet restrictions, who pays what utilities, etc.  I would get the original applications and contact info.  I would also give the tenant a letter and let them know there is a new owner or new property manager, tell them where to send or direct deposit their rent each month.

Jay Malaviya · Answer

Hi Eliott, yes I have those and am fine with the terms too. I'm concerned if something happens down the road, I won't have application (SSN and such) - how would I go about it?

Jay Malaviya · Answer

Thank you, Randy! It makes sense. I'm fine with the terms, the only piece I'm concerned about is not having an application and thus the SSN in case something happens down the road.

How to inherit a tenant after buying a property?

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