Buying a rental with tenant in place

[Chris E.]

Im buying 2 houses. One is mid-rehab and the other needs to be fully gutted. I plan on finishing the mid rehab house first and then moving onto the other. Problem is someone is living in the other house and his family who owns the house now has asked if he can remain there, paying me $400 per month until I'm ready to begin work on the house. At first I agreed because it sounds like hes lived there all his life and doesn't mind or care about the condition of the property. But now that Ive had a day to think on it I'm wondering if theres some way that I could have him sign a waiver or some form of agreement removing me from any liability to the property? Say the roof starts leaking, or a faucet breaks etc, I don't want to have to fix a ceiling or be replacing little things, knowing good and well I plan on gutting the whole house very soon. I will find out but I assume theres no rental agreement in place between him and his brother.  Can anyone think of a way I could make this deal work to help this guy out without me being on the hook as a landlord? maybe some type of agreement where he technically owns the property and is responsible for upkeep? I know, I need to find an attorney to talk to about things like this

[Deanna McCormick]

If you permit him to stay your the landlord / owner and yes you could be held responsible and may need to force eviction action if he fails to leave. It's your risk. I doubt any kind of waiver would matter if it went to court..

If he has a rental agreement now with his brother, you'd have to honor that till the end of the lease term,, otherwise, if you permitted him to stay it would automatically be a month to month and you'd be required to give proper notice.. I'd have the property delivered empty no one living there when you close.

Not worth the $400 a month to me..