Purchased property from wholesaler and previous owner won't move

[Steve Wald]

Hi all - 

I am hoping someone can provide some guidance. I closed on a nearby property November 30th, allowing the previous owner to occupy the property until December 15th as she said she needed the money at closing to put down on a place to rent. It is now the 27th and she still isn't out, providing one excuse after another. Long story short, considering she is not a tenant and we don't have a lease of any kind, is there anything preventing me from getting the sheriff to remove her from the property for trespassing? I have warned her several times that I am going to take legal action. 

This is my first deal working with a wholesaler rather than a traditional agent. One important note here is that part of our deal was that the majority of the funds from the sale were put into escrow until she is moved out, so I was hoping that would be enough to incentive for her to move out, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Any thoughts/advice is welcomed.

Thank you!

[Michael Gansberg]

@Steve Wald - evict. Assuming you worked with a lawyer on this transaction, and that the money in escrow is to be used in case she doesn't GTFO, start the eviction process and see if your attorney will allow some of the escrow funds to be applied to any costs you incur. When your ne'er do well seller realizes that her money is going up in smoke(in the form of legal fees,) maybe she'll get out sooner than later.