If you have a tenant who you don’t really want to have living in your property anymore, one of the things you might do is ask them to leave or offer to buy out a portion of the contract to give them time to move. Sometimes, they won’t want to move, and you will be bound by your contract.
You might think about getting around this by selling the property to someone in your family, because if you sell the property to someone new, they should be kicked out, right? The truth is that they won’t have to move right away, and that could hold up the sale of the property in some cases.
Your tenants have rights
Your tenants do have rights, so you have to be cautious about what you do when you sell a property. New ownership doesn’t necessarily mean that the tenants will be out as soon as the sale goes through.
If your tenant is not on a month-to-month lease, they may have the right to stay until that lease ends even if the property sells before that. Remember that a lease is tied to the property and not to the individual, so a new owner will likely need to allow the lease to continue.
If your tenants are on a month-to-month lease, then you may be able to get them out sooner by giving them the notice to vacate required by law. If you don’t give them the right amount of notice, they’ll be able to stay until that time has passed.
Using a lease termination due to sale clause could help in the future
For landlords looking to protect the right to sell a property without maintaining the tenants, the lease termination due to sale clause may be a good option for future leases. This clause may help you minimize the time you have to give a tenant when asking them to move out, so you can sell a property with no one living in it.
Tenant rights are strong, but there are options to protect you, too. If you have questions, it’s smart to look into the laws carefully before proceeding with asking your tenant to move out.
