Purchased Building With No Record of Leases

[Jared K.]

Recently we purchased a 9 unit apartment building from the bank. The bank had very little documentation pertaining to the old leases for the current tenants. I didn't mind buying the property without the leases because we were getting such a good deal from the bank. However in our attempt to implement effective management and gain control over the building we are wanting to have our existing tenants all sign new leases and fill out informational applications. Any tips on how to compel or incentivize tenants to do so? Thank you.

[Steve L.]

We have done this quite a few times:

- Day 1, send a letter, noticing change of ownership, how to pay you and some basic information about your company. Work on signing leases with whoever is willing.

- Day 3-5, 3 day notice every tenant that doesn't pay you. In my experience it is typically 50%.

- Day 10-15, start evictions on the people who are non responsive.

Our lucky has varied across buildings. There are usually a couple people who are talkers and you need to provide them comfort and answer their questions.