Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Landlord has placed condo for sale. What are my rights?

My husband and I originally signed our lease in July, 2006. We were moving into a neighborhood with a highly volatile turnover in ownership, and I was concerned with that when I signed the lease. In the lease, it is stated that the house can only be shown 30 days prior to the end of the lease. When we re-upped the lease in 2007, we only signed an amendment indicating the original lease was still intact and that the rate has increased. Now, the landlord is selling, and there is a lockbox outside my door! Do I have the right to termintate my lease based on the statment in the original lease? The landlord wants to keep the security deposit, while I feel he has violated the spirit of the contract, so I feel he has not been ';injured';. Any advice?Landlord has placed condo for sale. What are my rights?
The section on the lease that states they have the right to show the property 30days before the lease is up is pertaining to lease prospects not sale prospects. The owner or his agent must give you notice that it will be shown but usually only 24 hours, but they have every right to show. Sorry, if you break your lease he legally can keep your security deposit. The new owner if there is one legally has to keep the lease agreement unless you are on month to month. Hope this helps.Landlord has placed condo for sale. What are my rights?
Yes, you have rights here, since they are contractually stated and signed by both parties. You might want to take copies of your lease, send one to the landlord and one to the listing real estate agent, highlighting the section covering showings when the property is listed for sale.





If you elect to pursue this, you can prevail. My guess is that the real estate agent is unaware of this section of your lease, and would not wish to be in violation of same. Frankly, you can probably stay where you are until the end of your lease, since it's going to be extremely difficult to sell that property if you refuse to allow it to be shown, per your lease.
PART I. Check your lease and your local legal aid to see what your rights are in your state. While the other posters may be correct, in my state when the owner sells your lease is null and void. The new owner can ask you to leave- now.





PART II. The owner can show the property to buyers if he gives you notice that he is doing so. HOWEVER. If the lease actually states it can be shown only 30 days prior to the end then he's in violation if he shows it any other time, notice or not. That means, according to the terms you stated, he can't start showing it until June 2008. Additionally, he can't interfere with your ';quiet enjoyment'; of the property. In other words, he can't bring people by every day.





I suggest showing your contract to his Realtor and pointing this out.





PART III. Your security deposit is not for the owner's ';injury,'; real or imagined. ';Spirit of the contract'; my achin' patootie. Tell him to READ the contract. If he's even thinking about keeping the deposit because you're not happy about showing the unit he will lose in court.





Grrrrrr. I hate dumb owners.
Your lease will transfer to the new landlords that you will get. They can not change anything on your lease until it is up. You monthly payment will be the same and rules should stay the same also. The new landlord has to accept that. But things may change when you lease is up and the new landlord give you a new one! The exsisting landlord can show your home right now while it is on the market - but he/she needs to give you advance notice of when it will be showing. Good luck.

No comments:

Post a Comment