Can a landlord decide to sell the house I am renting?
Here is my issue, basically. My husband and I signed a lease back in December to rent a house. The landlord at the time made no mention of being interested in selling the house. Well, right after signing the lease, he says “Would you want to buy the house?” We said “No, not right now, our credit is not the greatest”. So fast-forward to two months later. He asks us if we want to buy the house, he will give us a “great deal”. We look into it, but find that our credit is still a bit too low and we had no down-payment anyway. A few days later, a rain storm hit and buckets of water started pouring out of the ceiling and from a light switch! So we were pretty happy that we didn’t buy it anyway. He supposedly fixed the roof, but we still were wary. A week or so later, he tells us that since we are not buying the house, he is putting it on the market. He proceeds to hire a realtor and put a lockbox on the door. A showing company calls anytime a realtor wants to show the house, although I demanded that I be given 24 hours notice. I was pretty angry, but the lease didn’t have anything in there saying the landlord could NOT sell the property. So I told him in no uncertain terms, if he were to sell the place, he has to buy me out of my lease. He said we would “talk about that when the time came” and I said “You better believe it!” The house was only shown once in the past five months but recently there have been more interested buyers, but the showing company calls me constantly harrassing me to show the house, not giving me 24 hours notice, which I flatly refuse to let them come with any less than 24 hours. All in all, it has been a terrible hassle.
I wonder if there is anything I can do, such as break the lease early to not have to deal with this constant harassment and intrusion of privacy? And if the landlord does sell before my lease expires, what exactly can I ask for in return? I would think it would be the same as if he broke the lease – he can ask for the entire rent that is left over, as long as he shows that he is trying to rent the property. I would think I should be allowed to collect the remainder of the money from the lease – or another mutually agreeable amount to “buy me out”.
Is what this guy doing legal? I have found lots of stuff on the internet about tenants breaking leases, but not much about landlords breaking them. This guy obviously KNEW when he rented me the place that he wanted to sell it, and is just trying to make money while he tries to sell. It is shady to me – a neighbor said he has actually been trying to sell it for years!
Anyway, what can I do, if anything?
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Tags: Buy House, Five Months, Intrusion Of Privacy
sell property | , 8 May 10
By chatsplas, May 10, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
OF course, LL can sell the house while you are renting. Of course LL and realtor must give you advance notice prior to showings–24 hours, and you can refuse a showing without such notice. Of course cooperating with showings and getting house under contract is to YOUR advantage, because then showings would Stop. You may be present when they show if you wish, but you may NOT limit the showings to times when you are present, or times you find convenient. However they can’t making showings for 10pm or 8am, either.
Yes, it may be inconvenient to you, but you have NO legal grounds to DEMAND that LL buy you out of lease. You and he are both legally bound by terms of lease. You can break your lease, but will have to deal with the consequences. The only legal harrassment in your posting above was by YOU. Your “thinking” of the LL/Tenant law of your state is incorrect, suggest you read up on that.
If LL gets lucky and sells the place, your lease remains valid and binding and is passed on to the new owner.
The way to avoid this is to be prudent financial managers, build your credit, save for down payment and buy your own place. LLs can show your place to new tenants, too. You want control, become an owner!
By Janice 10, May 12, 2010 @ 10:15 pm
Yes, the landlord owes the house and can do what they want only they must give you 24 hours notice for showing the property. Start looking for another place to live ASAP! I think no home should be sold if a tenant is living in the home. Best Wishes.
By jlf, May 15, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
Yes, he can sell the house. But he (or realtors) cannot barge in with no notice. Check state landlord-tenant law for your state.
By mama_sayed, May 17, 2010 @ 4:46 pm
There is no legal way you can break the lease. IF he sells the house, the new owner may, or may not, wish to honor the lease. At any rate, you are to be given at least 30 days notice if the lease is going to be terminated.
As for the inconvenience of the realtor showing the house, stick to your guns. You can continue to demand 24 hour notice, and I think as long as you are paying rent you can require your presence in the house whenever anyone comes to look at it. So, if you have plans for when they want to show the house, you may refuse admittance for that time. I am not real sure on that, though.
By JTT Properties, May 17, 2010 @ 7:49 pm
When he sells the house, the lease remains in effect. He cannot void the lease, nor can the new owner, nor can you. You cannot force him to buy out your lease.
He must give notice to show the property and show only during reasonable hours, but he has every right to sell his property. You cannot demand to be there at the showings, but he cannot refuse you being there either.
Edit: If you want to be present at the showings, you need to arrange it in your schedule. You cannot demand that he do the showings around your schedule.
By towanda, May 19, 2010 @ 5:07 am
First off anyone can put anything in a lease and that does not make it legal. There are also laws in your state that govern what a landlord can do and what a tenant can do. You can look these laws up under property code on your state’s web site. . .My state’s site has a tab for statues and then it’s under that.
He can sell the property. But the new landlord must honor the lease you have. And your property code will tell you how much notice must be given for a landlord to enter your premises. It’s usually 24 hours. You don’t have to let anyone in in less time and I would absolutely insist that someone in your family must be there when they go through your hourse. I really don’t know if the landlord must disclose that he is selling the house but I think he should because you will be disturbed on a regular basis and if you had been informed, I’ll bet you wouldn’t have rented from him. That may give you some basis to move out but you can bet he isn’t going to pay you to do so. I would sure sit down with an attorney. Most consultations are free. Read the property code. It is very informative reading and may give you some very good ideas.
By acermill, May 21, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
There is nothing illegal with trying to sell a rental unit. It happens every day all around the nation. The real estate agents need to give you whatever notice is required by your state (it varies) before bringing in potential buyers for the property. Find out what the notice is, and inform the managing broker of the listing real estate firm that you demand such notice for each showing.
However, once they learn to comply with THAT rule, you cannot refuse them entrance to the property. The landlord has a right to sell, and has the right of entry to the property for such purpose.
Meanwhile, your lease will transfer to the new owners of the property if it sells.
By mykatesmom, May 24, 2010 @ 6:12 am
of course the landlord has the right to sell the property, he IS the owner afterall. Normally, if the home gets sold while there is a tenant with a lease, the purchaser of the home has to honor the lease for the remainder of the lease term.
In otherword, in MOST circumstances (but not all) if the landlord sells the house and you have a lease, you will be able to keep living there for the remainder of your lease. There are some places where this is not true, especially if the new owner of the home wants to move in there himself.
By Wildcat, May 27, 2010 @ 5:41 pm
They have every legal right to sell and there is nothing you can do about it. They are NOT breaking your lease. They are only required to tell new tenants if it is currently on the market at the time they sign the lease.
They ARE legally required to give you 24 hrs notice of any showing.
NO! You CANNOT break the lease for this. If you break it then you must pay what ever fees are stated in the lease.
You do not have the right to ask for anything if it sells before your lease is up. The new owner will be required to let you stay until it expires.
This is not fair but it is all perfectly legal.
By Classy Granny, May 29, 2010 @ 11:05 am
A landlord can sell his property anytime he wants and give you a 30 day notice. He will not be buying you out of your lease. They do have to give you 24 hours notice before showing the house
By Stephan, May 31, 2010 @ 9:52 am
The new owner would simply inherit the current landlord’s position on the lease. The lease would stay in place as it is until it expires.
There is no way for you to force the landlord to buy you our of your lease, it’s an option for him or the new owner.
Yes the landlord/real estate agency need to give you 24 hour notice before showing the place.