hello, I am a new landlord and have just purchased a property.
The tenants had leases singed with the original owner. This may be a dumb question but I just want to make sure. I am in no way bound to those leases correct? We want them to sign new leases with us. There are some tennants that did not pay a pet deposit. If they do not comply, we can evict them without any problems, right?
Any advise would be appreciated.
Andy.
You bought the leases also…so they stay in effect.
You will not be able to evict them based on your lease, but if they have broken “their” lease you can start the process.
Welcome to the REI world, happy investing.
Dave
I have a feeling you’re going to need to tell everyone what state you are from.
Thanks for the replies so far.
This is for the state of Texas.
-Andy
the lease is an encumburace on the property. in some states (from what I have been told, not personally verified), there are provisions for you to cancel lease if you are going to occupy as primary residence. I am not aware of any states that allows for new owners of property to cancel at will.
A lease is a legally binding contract; if its in force it can only be terminated by methods as specificed in the contract (absent of being entered into upon fraudelent conditions). Breach and subsquent failure to cure that breach MAY be ground for temrination (check the actaul working of the lease).
This is why I use my own lease that covers me for just about everything.
What does the old lease say?
“If property is sold lease maybe terminated by landlord with a 60 day notice”
If not ride out the lease.
Thanks everyone. I did not realize how helpful this site is.
I think my problem is solved I guess. The lease was 1 page and it was pretty basic, so I did not see any clauses as suggested above. We had a talk with the tenants (there were other issues; a leak from the upstairs A/C unit). They had 2 big dogs, a cat and an iguana. The lease said that no pets were allowed unless approved. They said that they paid a pet deposit. I was wary of that because there was no documentation. Then they said that the previous owners knew about the pets. The neighbor tenant said that he talked to the previous owner and the previous owner did NOT know about the pets. They also had 2 sublet-ers that were not on the lease and the lease did not allow this.
Regardless, they expressed that they were not happy there anyway and asked if they could break the lease but still pay for May. We told them it wasnt a problem and gave them a “Tenant’s Notice to vacate” form to fill out. We loss a tenant but we have a feeling they were going to be a headache. Hopefully we can make the necessary repairs quickly and get tenants in there that are a better fit for us.
Is there anything else you think I am missing during this process?
Much thanks, Andy.
Andy,
I recommend that you join your local REIA. It is clear to me that you are not educated on being a landlord and that is a VERY EXPENSIVE education to get by personal experience. I also recommend reading some books on landlording. What you don’t know can really hurt you in this business.
You need a very comprehensive lease that addresses your local laws and issues. You also need to be thoroughly educated on local eviction proceedings. There may be other local building code, health department, nuisance officer, or Section 8 issues that you should be aware of. The only way you’ll get this info is by talking to other successful investors in your area.
Good Luck,
Mike
thanks for the advice. -Andy