All Forum Posts by: Trevor Borg

Thanks all! Very much appreciate all the advice. In response to some of the questions, yes, I had requested a copy of the prior lease from the sellers during my due diligence process and knew the terms, price, end date, etc., and the later amendment/new agreement was never disclosed during diligence (I only saw it after closing when the tenant said it had been signed and sent it over). Tenant had been paying very close to market rent and from my visits to the property had kept the unit in very good order, so it would have been beneficial to keep them in the unit at least until the term was up to provide some steady cash flow while attempting to rent out the other unit and perhaps even extend the least for another year. 

Agreed with many, that there certainly are some "blessing in disguise" benefits (getting to screen my own tenants); however, from a pure cashflow/effort standpoint, it isn't an ideal scenario since I'll be putting in more effort and sooner just to find another tenant who is paying the same rate. 

I've already spoken with my RE agent who is reaching out to the seller's agent to see if there is any simple solution. I may try to speak with a lawyer at some point (assuming free consultation) to see if cost/benefit is even remotely worth it but otherwise will likely do as many mentioned and just work quickly to try to get a new tenant. Thanks again!

Hello everyone, long time reader, researcher, podcast listener but first time posting, as I finally closed on a rental property a few days ago (wish I was posting on a slightly more positive note).

I tried to search through the forums and haven't seen anything on my precise situation and wanted to post here for some advice if anyone has dealt with something similar. As mentioned, I just closed on a rental property (duplex in the DFW area). One side of the duplex was vacant while the other was occupied with a lease ending in approximately 4 months. I reached out to the tenant immediately after closing in order to work out where rent should be sent going forward. However, the tenant informed me that they had signed a transfer agreement with the prior owner (a semi-large rental property/management company) to change houses and swap the lease over to another property owned by the sellers. I have seen the agreement - it was signed a couple weeks before closing and contemplated a move two days after closing. The seller did not mention this in their disclosure or otherwise and simply represented that a lease was in place (and sent the old lease). 

It seems like I should be able to get some recourse since this was not disclosed anywhere and the documents the sellers did disclose were amended without my knowledge. That said, it seems like hiring a lawyer could cost nearly as much as the rent money I could recoup. 

Has anyone dealt with anything similar or have any advice for a relative newbie investor?

Thanks in advance!