Landlord Selling house...I still have 6 months on my lease (for sale, apartment complexes)

[lynnie1960]

My landlord informed me he is selling the house I am renting from him. It is Feb and my lease does not expire until August1. CAn he force me out of this house before the end of my lease? He says once it sells I have 60 days to move....I see nothing in my lease like that at all. Is my lease completely worthless?

[lilred0005]

Hi, I don't know much but I do know that tennants have rights. Unless the possible sale of said home was included, in writting, in your lease agreement, I don't believe this is legal. I would google tennants rights or speak to an attorney. Good luck and take care.

[Keeper]

Here is some info on tenant rights..
Florida Landlord/Tenant Law Division of Consumer Services, DOACS (http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html - broken link)

83.03 Termination of tenancy at will; length of notice.--A tenancy at will may be terminated by either party giving notice as follows:

(1) Where the tenancy is from year to year, by giving not less than 3 months' notice prior to the end of any annual period;

Maybe someone who is a landlord or has dealt with this can tell you more.

Good Luck..

[bentlebee]

I'm a LL but can't tell you what the law is about this issue, but I do know that houses don't sell so easy, so I wouldn't worry too much to soon!

[cjtex23]

I agree with bentlebee....however, the issue still stands that if the owner sells the house and the closing date comes up quickly, you won't have a house to live in if the house is sold to someone else. You could take the landlord to court, but what would you rather do...have a place to live or be right? The same situation happened to me, and as soon as the landlord said he was putting the house on the market, I started looking and beat feet out of there. He let me out of the lease early since he said he was selling the house. I know for a fact that the place is still on the market, but I now have a new place with no worries of having to move out. I learned my lesson. I will never lease from a private owner again. There are just too many "ifs". Good luck. I know how stressful that situation can be.

[ladihawkae]

he really isn't supposed to throw you out and he is supposed to let any potential buyer know about the lease. but then, sometimes when leases transfer to new owner, it can become a nightmare. i would check with a lawyer on this because if he sells the house, he is in breach of contract and should have to refund more than just your security deposit. but i agree with above advise..i'd find another place to live. tell the landlord and he should let you out of the lease since they are disregarding their end of it.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by cjtex23

I agree with bentlebee....however, the issue still stands that if the owner sells the house and the closing date comes up quickly, you won't have a house to live in if the house is sold to someone else. You could take the landlord to court, but what would you rather do...have a place to live or be right? The same situation happened to me, and as soon as the landlord said he was putting the house on the market, I started looking and beat feet out of there. He let me out of the lease early since he said he was selling the house. I know for a fact that the place is still on the market, but I now have a new place with no worries of having to move out. I learned my lesson. I will never lease from a private owner again. There are just too many "ifs". Good luck. I know how stressful that situation can be.

I also agree with you but why do you give all privaye LL the same label for one doing something you didn't like...The private LL told you that he is selling the place, which doesn't mean he will sell it so fast and is giving you notice in case some one comes to look at the house, whih is very polite. He let you get out of your lease early and you could have stayed till the end of the lease...what did you want the LL have done different and what if you owned the house how would you have done it?

What about apartment complexes or management companies...some one ownes them too and the owner might sell it or decide to do maintenance, which can disturb you privacy....the only solution is buying and make sure you have money to do so.....

I bought a home which was a short sale and there was a renter in there and we told the renter he could stay if he wanted (which happens in more than one sale now a days), but he wanted a couple of hundred less to pay a month so we waited for his lease to expire and moved the closing date to 2 days after he moved out, for our safety (so he wouldn't have damaged the house, since we bought it "as is" on the day we saw it and not "as is" in case it was damaged), and we rented it out fast for lower than the renter had paid but we higher than he wanted to pay to us...(his rent was based on the high market...but now we raised almost back to what it was, since demand is very high for rentals)

[BucFan]

Would show the landlord the rule about 90 days (3 months) notice only after he gives you notice. If he says that he'll need you to move sooner than 90 days, tell him that you'd expect him to pay for the moving expenses, otherwise, 90 days is the minimum. Possibly have someone in the legal profession to call on your behalf. Might be worth the $50 in legal fees.

I agree w/ poster above. I refuse to rent from a homeowner in these market conditions. They may foreclose the house from under you and you're left on the street with your stuff.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Would show the landlord the rule about 90 days (3 months) notice only after he gives you notice. If he says that he'll need you to move sooner than 90 days, tell him that you'd expect him to pay for the moving expenses, otherwise, 90 days is the minimum. Possibly have someone in the legal profession to call on your behalf. Might be worth the $50 in legal fees.

I agree w/ poster above. I refuse to rent from a homeowner in these market conditions. They may foreclose the house from under you and you're left on the street with your stuff.

Same is counting for companies that are going bankrupt....if you do a good background check specially in the public records, you can see if the LL is in financial trouble or not....I do agree with you to ask for compensation if you need to move earlier, but in todays market, selling a home isn't going so fast and it is very decent of the LL to inform you of him listing the property for sale. What about a management company that is selling their company or a huge comapny that has major rentals when they are selling it...that can have an impact...so to me this isn't a good reason not to rent from a private LL, just as the other way around...not all tenants are bad...but a lot are!

[breezyshore]

i'm 6 months into a 1 year lease agreement. the owner wrote me to say he is putting house on the market for sale while I'm still under lease and living here. what are my rights regarding this? there isn't a provision in contract addressing this possibility. NC resident.