Advice Needed

[Lynn James]

I just purchased a home on March 28. I purchased the home knowing a tenant was inside...because the tenant told me they would move once the home was sold. Well that did not happen. Once I purchased the home the tenant now will not talk to me so I decided to go ahead at start the eviction process. I had the dispossessory served to the person living in the home (I don't want to call them a tenant because they are not my tenant). Once they were served they had 7 days to respond ..which they did. Now a court date has been set. Now I have to go to count towards the end of the month and mortgage is due on 4/1. Looks like I will be stuck paying for a home that I will never live in. I don't think this is fair. The only reason I believed the lady is because her lease wit the property management company was month to month and they had her stop paying them rent in December so she could move. So she has been living rent free since Dec. HELP. Can the judge allow her to stay longer?

[Jon Holdman]

If you signed the closing papers know there was a tenant inside, I doubt you have any recourse against the seller, title company or anyone else. Sorry, but you should not have signed. I bought a house in a similar situation. Nobody could verify the tenant was out, so I drove over and discovered they were not. I refused to close until the property was vacant, and that happened quickly.

You may not want to call them a tenant but that's exactly what they are. And they have all the rights of any other tenant. You will have to work through the process. I would strongly recommend you get an experienced eviction lawyer, since any error in the process can put you back to the start. A knowledgeable tenant can drag out the process for a while, and a good attorney can help this go faster. If you're not using an attorney, I'd recommend you go attend eviction court at least once before you court date just to watch how it works.