Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If a tenant has been living in a home with no lease, and we purchase the home I understand we have the right to evict them. I have found the eviction form that looks like it would fit our situation, it is a 5 day notice. My question is can we give them more time to get out or since we have to go through the court do we have to abide by the 5 day time frame?
Secondly I know that the tenant is going to be furious and they might do some serious damage to the house. Is there a way to protect ourselves, since there is no lease agreement in place?
First, you are not evicting the tenants. You are asking them to vacate or terminating their lease. There's a distinct and important difference between evicting tenants and telling them to vacate. Terminating the lease does not require going through the courts.
Without a lease, your tenants are likely month-to-month tenants. I had a difficult time finding it, but it appears Utah requires 15 days notice prior to the end of the term to vacate. Here's a link:
Now if your tenant refuses to vacate, and remains living in the house past the lease termination date, then you'll need to proceed with eviction through the courts.
Didn't your Realtor discuss this with you? Usually you have to abide by the lease. In the case of no lease (according to you) it will be likely considered a month to month. According to the link provided by Hokie,
"A "No Cause" notice can be used if the lease agreement is coming to an end (either from a one year contract or in a month to month lease) and the landlord wants the tenant to move out. If the tenant is on a month-to-month agreement, this notice would require the tenant to leave by the end of the next month. This is a "No Cause" notice because the landlord does not been to have grounds for eviction, they are simply terminating the lease which requires the tenant to leave the property."
Therefore, you have to give them 30days notice BUT you really should talk to a lawyer about this. AND be a good person... talk to the tenants about your need to occupy the home and help them find a new place!
If they do not have a term lease that does not mean they have no lease. It means they are on a month to moth lease. The link HokieFan gave you is what you need.
As far as damage, when you bought the place the previous owner was responsible for turning over any security deposits over to you. You can use that for damages. If there was no security deposit make sure you have a reliable forwarding address for the soon to be gone tenants so you can contact them for payment. Or to give to the courts if you end up suing them.
If a tenant has been living in a home with no lease, and we purchase the home I understand we have the right to evict them. I have found the eviction form that looks like it would fit our situation, it is a 5 day notice. My question is can we give them more time to get out or since we have to go through the court do we have to abide by the 5 day time frame?
Secondly I know that the tenant is going to be furious and they might do some serious damage to the house. Is there a way to protect ourselves, since there is no lease agreement in place?
There was never a lease in place, technically it is a month to month agreement which is still a lease? Even if they had a year lease to begin with but it has since expired the original lease is still in place and you have to follow the termination clause within that agreement. You aren't evicting them so get that out of your head, evictions destroy credit and future rental chances and are for people who break rental agreements, most commonly nonpayment of rent. You are terminating the rental agreement so look up your states guidelines for ending a month to month lease and go from there.
The seller is likely (if they're smart) holding the tenant's security deposit. If you take possession of the home and then terminate the lease, if there is no damage to the home beyond wear & tear, you will be responsible for returning the tenant's security deposit.
You'll want to find out 1.) Is there a security deposit? 2.) How much is it? 3.) How do you go about getting it transferred from the seller to you (the buyer)?
Sounds like a pain, huh? If I were in your situation, I would talk to my realtor about possibly requiring the seller to handle lease termination and having the tenant vacated before closing.
I should have given more details on the situation, It's a very long story...but here's the gist of it.
My husbands mother passed away 13 years ago. At that time she signed the title over the her daughter #1 who then took out a loan against the home. Another daughter #2 has lived in the home rent free without a lease for 13 years. Daughter #1 has since paid off the loan and is signing the title over to daughter # 3. #3, #1 and my husband want to sell the house and split the profits between herself, #1 and my husband. #2 was given the opportunity over a year ago to obtain a loan to buy out the siblings, but has refused to do so. No one wants it to get ugly but it looks like it's headed that direction. Once again there has never been any type of lease the entire length of her tenancy.
That is completely different than what you first stated. Flat out lying isn't a "poor first post." Get a lawyer to figure it out but what I would do is inspect the property and document the current condition, pictures and uninterrupted video, so you have a starting point. From there you have two options and the best is notice of non-renewal. Your other option is to provide the current resident a rent increase notice via certified mail return receipt, go as high as you want doesn't matter just follow your state laws for notice period assume parents are due on the 1st. After you do that and they don't pay you evict and sue for any damages they caused since the inspection.
OP, if there was never any sort of lease, your sister is there on a month to month rental agreement that follows state law.
From your post, it is unclear whether or not the unwelcome sister has any ownership interest in the property. If she has no ownership interest, you give her the 30 day notice to vacate (or whatever time frame your state law specifies.) Then when she doesn't leave, you file for an eviction for overstay. Since you don't know what you are doing, I suggest that you hire a real estate lawyer who specializes in evictions.
If the unwanted sister has an ownership interest in the house, you will have to hire a lawyer, go to a judge, and get a court order to have the house sold and the proceeds divided.
Your unwanted sister does not have squatters rights because she was a tenant there with permission of the owner.
You need to double check to make sure whose names are on the title.
There was never any lease and she has zero ownership interest in the home. The title is solely in the other sisters name. I have tried to talk them into getting an attorney, for some reason they are hesitant to do so. Hopefully they will realize this is a complicated issue and hire one ASAP.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
