Posted by Chi Ming on June 14, 2010 at 01:04:45:
In many states, leases are neither notarized nor
recorded, which makes them difficult to discover. Best
way to make sure is for the property to be vacant.
Honoring previous leases entered into by seller - Posted by Ken
Posted by Ken on June 09, 2010 at 23:24:55:
When I buy a house and the previous seller has a lease with a tenant for the next 6 months or ???–do I have to honor that lease until the end of the period? Or is this a state by state law? Thanks
Happy Investing!!
If Sr is bound, so is Br - Posted by John Merchant
Posted by John Merchant on June 10, 2010 at 11:59:52:
If Seller was bound by a legal lease then anybody who might buy the RE from him is also.
Be aware that “Lease” is a state-by-state recognized and legally defined agreement and has, according to state law, certain requirements that exist or it’s not a legally binding lease…e.g. here in WA unless a rental agreement of 12 months or longer is in writing, signed AND NOTARIZED it’s NOT a lease and is only a M to M rental agreement that can be terminated with 30 day notice to terminate.
My partners and I once bought a property where no lease showed on title (had not been recorded), but once we’d closed a tenant showed up claiming she had 7 years to go on her very cheap LT lease from the elderly seller.
That’s when I got curious about what WA law required and discovered the requirements just mentioned…and then discovered said tenant had no such thing and we had her out of there in 30 days.
A buyer needs to make sure the property is NOT leased so he needs to get Title policy coverage on this issue.
Since there could be a legal lease that’s not recorded, he needs to make sure he’s covered in case there is such a LT lease currently on that RE.