Buying Multi-Family Property / Inheriting Tenants / Leases???????

[Chris Nelson]

Hey BP,

My Wife and I really need your help on this one! We're buying a Duplex in Florida that is currently occupied by Tenants. There is a 12 month lease in place for one unit and the other unit is month to month. We plan on occupying one side and keeping the tenant with the lease in place on the other. The Seller provided us copies of the current lease agreements. The Seller provided us a lease from 2012 for the month to month tenant and Feb, 2015 for the current "12 month lease tenant". I'm not sure how that adds up?? The contracts state that "After the initial 12 month period of this Rental Agreement, the tenants may continue to reside at the premises on a monthly basis. All other provisions of this rental Agreement remain in effect." I understand that we will inherit this agreement after closing. There is a clause in section 12 that states "This agreement may be terminated at any time by either party giving 30 days written notice to the other party." Could we just issue a written document to the tenant after closing to start the clock? Is anyone familiar with this process or how to evict someone in Pinellas County, FL? Is it possible the Seller has a more recent lease agreement with this tenant and is concealing it from us? How could we possibly check to see if there are any more recent lease agreements in place before buying the property? It would really screw us if we buy this place and find out we have to wait a year before moving into it. Does anyone know how to fact check the Seller on current lease agreements in place. There has to be a way to do this. We just want to be sure we can occupy in no more than 30 days after closing. Who's got a solution?! Thanks in advance for discussing and helping with this BP Family!

Your Friends,

Chris & Megan