when to tell month-to-month renter she's out?
We are about to sign a contract on a house with a rental that is occupied by a month-to-month renter. We are planning to take over part of the rental for my mother-in-law and rent the rest to my sister. We will close in late March and will need the rental unit vacant by May…
We are about to sign a contract on a house with a rental that is occupied by a month-to-month renter. We are planning to take over part of the rental for my mother-in-law and rent the rest to my sister. We will close in late March and will need the rental unit vacant by May 1. When should we tell the current renter that she has to leave? And how – is there any legality in this situation that I should know about as far as it being in writing, or does her lack of lease mean all bets are off?
Thanks.
Jeezze, not all renters are poor. The guy that used to rent the apartment up stairs from me was a young trust fund bachelor, had a V (Roman numeral five) at the end of his name and got big envelopes from the private bank division of his bank.
“Humane” has nothing –NOTHING–to do with it.
Assume you talk to the tenant and you come to a mutually agreable date to move out. You offer to pay moving expenses. Moving day and…their new apartment fell through! Back to square one. Three months later. Oh, they can’t find a place yet, they need another month. Do you start eviction proceedings now?!?!? The tenant in this situation is not a bad tenant, just unlucky. But who’s screwed? The landlord!
why does everyone automatically assume the tenant will be difficult? Have you guys never rented? If yes, were you lousy, difficult tenants?
One should be prepared for the worst yes, but what’s wrong with starting out on in somewhat “humane” manner..
you are a SCARY bunch
I have never been in the situation when I had to evict someone, but was amazed by the hassle a friend of mine went through trying to get a month to month tenant out. Not a ‘poor’ person, but a savy, calculating, middle class person who used every trick I ever heard of to avoid the inevitable. In this case the tenant left once she was ready to close on her new coop apt. Her excuses such as not wnting to have her daughter change schools during the school year were meaningless.
I guess what I am trying to say is that being nice may help but it does’nt guarantee you a pleasant experience with the tenant. It made me think a lot about who I would rent my apt. to.
Hey 8:58 – nice poem, but business is business.
I agree: being poor is a massive disadvantage – I actually believe social class is a bigger factor than race in one’s success – but the housing situation is something for the seller to deal with.
The commitment to provide housing to these people was made by the seller and not the buyer, and it’s not their responsibility to honor the previous owner’s commitment unless it’s in the form of a standing lease, and when the lease expires, the new owner has no commitment to continue that business relationship with the tenant.
And I agree with the post about the internet connection and the computer, unless you wrote that from the local library branch.
When I bought my home, our contract specified that the house was to be delivered vacant. The previous owners were very considerate people and when they put the house on the market, they advised the tenants that they would not be renewing any leases and that any new owner would probably want the house vacant. All but one of the tenants moved out prior to closing. The last tenant, who was well employed, simply dragged his heels even though the owners were paying their moving expenses and broker’s fee on a new rental!! The owners had to start eviction proceedings, we had to extend our mortgage commitment and negotiate with our landlord as we were living in a rental. The tenant finally left about three months after our originally scheduled closing date. It was very stressful, but less so than if we had closed on time and been the ones who had to take out the tenant.
Like I said Boggle, it’s not going to be the right tactic for every situation. If I’d had more money on hand to cover legal expenses, I’d have gone that route. I didn’t especially want to play ‘hard ball’, but I did, and it worked wonders.
As for the legality (or lack thereof), yes, I was concerned, but not overly so. Naturally there was an investigation, and before it was over I thnk the police figured out what had happened. But think about it. My tenants were not wealthy people. The wife worked retail, and they were not well-connected in any way. So, the police weren’t going to make a big stink over them–not when they have better things to do.
You do what you have to do, but you naturally you have to be prudent and measure your options carefully.
I am a landlord and i agree with 10:05 – I had to tell my tenant i wasn’t going to renew her lease b/c we need to do extensive work in her apartment which since we are diy (we really can’t afford to hire someone) we can’t get it done quickly. I gave my tenant over 7 months notice and told her i would write her any recommendations i could. I also asked around to other landlord friends i knew to see if anyone had any available apartments for her. (Well she is an excellent tenant so it really would be doing both of them a favor). And there are no hard feelings. If you give someone ample time to move and find a place (and or offer to give them some money to move), I would seriously doubt you will have any problems. Despite the horror stories i think 95% of people want to avoid an eviction. I don’t understand why so many of the posters are jumping in about evictions.
9:49AM, how did you go about doing this without getting in trouble? I can see how this would sometimes be your only option, but you were definitely stepping outside the letter of the law here. I’d be worried about getting caught.