Can we terminate the lease if they are doing it?

Question

Hello, everyone! Please advise if we bought the property and if it was the lease from the previous landlord.

One time we saw that they were smoking, but it's not allowed in the property.

Also, we noticed that it's only 1 person in the lease, but it's actually 3.

Please advise if we can do something with that. Thank you!

Nicholas L. · Answer

@Ran Fridman

I'd consult a local attorney.  It's worth it.

Alan Asriants · Answer

What does the lease read? If those options are not allowed then you must serve them notice to QUIT. IF they don't QUIT within a set time then you will have to begin the eviction process. Check your local state laws, and if you're not sure/confident def talk to an attorney

Chris Seveney · Answer

you cannot terminate the lease because you are the new owner, term is still valid. For lease violations, you potentially could evict but as always check with your local counsel.

Matt Vohnoutka · Answer

Hi @Ran Fridman, congrats on the new property!  I'll definitely second @Nicholas L.'s advice to consult a local attorney for guidance on this.  That being said, here are a few other items that might be worth considering.

First and foremost, as you're changing out the locks on the doors, install doorbell cameras on the exterior to cover entrances in/out of the property.  Saying there are three people living there when only one is on the lease is good to know, but hard to prove; getting video documentation of three people consistently entering/exiting the property substantially alleviates that difficulty.

During your due diligence process, you probably obtained a copy of the existing tenant's lease to review.  If your lease contract is much more thorough and comprehensive than the lease they're on now, you may want to try having the current residents sign a new lease using your contract (you would probably need a mutual termination agreement as well to void out the existing lease; again, I'm not a lawyer, so definitely worth consulting one!).

Getting a new lease contract signed has a few key benefits.  First, it's your lease, so you likely know it inside and out, giving you a level of comfortability which no inherited lease ever quite has regardless of how well it's written.  Second, you can take this opportunity to have a conversation with the current occupants and make sure you get all of the people living at the property screened and added onto the lease.  If they actually live there and aren't up to anything too sketchy, they shouldn't have any issues with you screening them.  If they put up any sort of resistance, that could be a cue to start digging a little deeper and documenting a bit more thoroughly (hence the doorbell camera coverage tip I put first - installing the cameras right away and then having the new lease conversation with the tenants afterward is very easy to frame as "I'm just a new owner putting some TLC into the property and doing my due diligence on the leases/tenants"; talking to your residents first, finding out they have extra people living there who aren't on the lease, and then installing cameras around the property could set you up for a very adversarial relationship with your inherited tenants).  And third, you can make sure your lease's guest policy and non-smoking clauses are beefed up and made extremely clear to the tenants.

Lastly, you probably inspected the property at least once or twice before closing, so you would have likely been able to determine if there was any significant smoke damage or cigarette smell inside.  If you didn't notice anything inside, then a friendly conversation along the lines of "Hey, I noticed you smoking outside the last time I stopped by - I just wanted to thank you for doing that outside, and as long as you keep it outdoors, we'll be all good!" will let them know that you know they smoke, and that you're keeping an eye on them.  If you didn't notice anything during the inspection process pre-closing, or just weren't looking for any smoke smells/damage, try to get over there ASAP to check for it (changing out the furnace filter is always an easy and valid business reason to stop by).

All that being said, I can't stress enough the importance of getting off on the right foot with inherited tenants.  As the new owner, showing them that you care about both the property and their experience as residents while they're living there, and building a solid rapport with them on the front end, it will pay so many dividends as you move forward.

Hope this info helps a bit, and best of luck with the new property/tenants!

Can we terminate the lease if they are doing it?

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