Duplex Under contract - Tenant will not allow access to unit

[Trey Bonner]

Hi BP Fam, 

I am currently under contract for a duplex in Atlanta metro (East Point). During due diligence we were able to access one unit (which has a tenant) once, which happened to be during a time that my contractor was not able to come. We have since ended due diligence and currently working to have my contractor provide a final quote for the rehab. In order to do this, he needs to see the tenant-occupied unit. After requesting access, the seller indicated that we will not be able to access the other unit until our final walk through because the tenant is nonresponsive. The existing lease has a right to access clause as well (I believe 24 hours). 

Is this acceptable? By law, is the seller required to provide access to the property while we are under contract (or is access only required during due diligence)? Considering that the lease has a right to access clause, should/can I be persistent in asking for access? The property definitely needs work which is why I need a finalized quote before moving forward on the purchase. 

Thanks for your thoughts. This is uncharted territory for us. 

[Joe Splitrock]

There is no law that requires the seller to grant you access. You have a civil contract with the seller and our only recourse if they don't get you access would be breaking that contract. If due diligence period has passed, you probably lost your opportunity to cancel the contract. 

The seller would be within their rights to just post "24 notice to enter" on the door, so the refusal to let you enter is really the sellers choice. It could be that the seller doesn't want to go to any extra effort or they could be covering up a major issue in that other unit.

If the tenant is non responsive and non cooperative now, why would they be any more accommodating at walk through prior to closing? I predict the seller will just say they are non-responsive prior to the final walk through. The seller may even be using this as a strategy, knowing that by closing you have incurred substantial time and cost, so are unlikely to back out.

Another concern is you mention getting a quote on rehab which implies you are asking this non-responsive tenant to move out. Are they going to be gone before you close or are you taking on this problem yourself?

I would demand that they post notice on the door for entry or tell them you need to renegotiate price for "unknown damages" in the unit. There could be a serious problem inside that unit, such as a meth lab or other very costly issue. The sellers push back is suspicious.