General guide for inherited tenants?

[Jason Stratman]

Hi all -

We have our first investment property under contract, with an estimated close date of Aug. 12th.  The property has current tenants, which have expressed interest to stay.  Their current lease expires Aug. 15th, and if closing gets pushed out at all they would go month to month with the current owner, per the lease agreement, however this has the potential to be a very quick turn-around.

I'm assuming I would still run the current tenants through my own screening process.  Do I move forward with them filling out the application before I've even closed on the property, along with paying for the credit/criminal/background check?  I've sent them the Estoppel Certificate to verify the information with the lease agreement, but how far can I keep going before closing on the property?  With it being such a quick turn-around with their current lease expiring I want to have as much lined up as I can, as I don't want to keep bad tenants if they don't pass my screening requirement.

Is there any sort of guide on the site on how to handle inherited tenants?  A search on the subject returns many results on specific questions people have had, but with this being our first property I'm looking for a general guide on what I can and can't do before we close.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance!