No rent roll and no lease agreements

[Frank Agyeman-Duah]

I have agreed with a seller on an offer price for a triplex which will be my first REI. According to the seller's agent, the first tenant has lived there for 16 years, second tenant 6 years and third tenant 6 months. When i requested to see the leases and the rent roll i was told seller has no such records but receives the total rent in his account every month. Need advise on this before i close the deal.

[Michael Noto]

@Frank Agyeman-Duah Here is how I would handle this If it was my deal or if I was advising a client.

If the seller cannot provide leases then have your lawyer write up assignment of lease documents for the landlord to sign and estoppel agreements for the tenants to sign. These documents will give you clarification on these important aspects: current monthly rent amount, who is responsible for paying which utilities, what security deposits are being held by the owner, if the tenants are current on their monthly rent. Is it ideal they do not have leases? No, but even if you were to get leases I would recommend your attorney write these up anyway so you could verify what the leases say. 

Not being able to provide proof of rent being paid is BS. If he is depositing the money into a bank account he can prove it is being paid with bank statements.