I'm under contract for a house I believe may be rented illegally

[Johnathan Kimbrow]

Hi all,

I'm under contract for a house in South GA that I believe may be being rented illegally. The house is expected to close in a few days but I believe the broker may have rented out the house illegally. If title has cleared and the transaction is cleared to close, what should someone do in this case? If the lease is technically illegal, will I be able to evict the tenants once I have legal ownership? Are there GA laws that would apply to this that I should know?

Thanks,

John

[Jon Holdman]

Who is "he" that has no lease?  Can you explain who the parties involved are?  

You keep saying you believe the lease is illegal.  Why?  Are you saying the person who leased the property did not have authority to do it?  Like a craigslist scammer that rents someone else house, collects the deposit and first month's rent and runs away?

If  someone is living there after you close, you have a tenant.  Even if they were just squatters who moved in without anyones knowledge, you have tenants.  You will need to follow local law as far as giving them notice that the tenancy is being terminated and they have to leave.  With no written lease, that's typically 30 days notice.  But that varies by state.  Consult with your landlord/tenant attorney.  Find one if you don't have one.  Then, if they refuse to leave you would start the eviction.