Would you buy an 8 unit with a sex offender as a tenant?

[Matt Sterling]

I was all set to make an offer on a 8 unit(4 modular duplexes) last Monday 'til I found out there was a sex offender in one of the units Sunday night.  I looked up his court case and found out it was for 4-5 years of molestation of his girlfriend's daughter from the ages of 6 to 10.  He appealed his sentencing and this quote came up in that case.  "In addition, the trial court noted several other aggravating factors, including xxxxxx‟s failure to successfully complete probation, his pattern of physical abuse toward women, his history of substance abuse, evidence of multiple instances of molestation toward the victim, and his violation of a position of trust."

He was sentenced to 5 years, somehow he only served 1 and got out.  The property manager tells my realtor on Monday that he told them it was a young girlfriend situation and that is why he is on the registry, I told them that it was bull and the real reason he was on there.  The property manager says he has been a good tenant for 2 years and is now engaged and goes to classes and is trying to get his life back together.  

His lease isn't up til February.  I haven't seen his application and see if he lied on it when talking about the sex offender status or he just told "his story" to the property manager and there isn't a record of him lying. 

It is currently bank-owned and we asked the bank if they would consider an offer contingent on them removing him before closing but they got back to us today saying they would not.  So here I am now.   

[Patrick L.]

Personally it wouldn't stop me form buying it but I'd give him the required notice to terminate his lease in January and have him out in Feb as soon as the lease is up.   I wouldn't approve an app with those type of charges and having an offender like that will make it hard to attract and keep quality tenants.   It's not a permanent issue so I don't see any reason why it would stop you from making an offer.