Closed on 2 unit property - prior mgmt company released tenant

[Jeff Wharton]

Hi All. First post here, I've been looking at acquiring some income properties for a while, and been running numbers of a few to find the right one. Finally took the plunge on a two unit property and recently closed. On to our issue/my question.

So we recently closed on a two-unit property in New Hampshire that had tenants in both units signed to leases that terminated in about 6 months. During negotiation with the seller, we indicated we would be keeping them on (leases had a provision where we could give tenants 60 days notice to vacate upon close).

The prior landlord lived far away and had a management company handling the leases. When we were buying, we indicated we would not be using their services any more as we're far more local.

About 5 days before we closed, the management company received a request from a tenant to get early termination of their lease (their is no clause in the lease allowing for early exit). The requested cancel date was 2 weeks AFTER we closed. They granted it. And then didn't inform us ever. We only found out when reaching out to our current tenants to update them and update the address they should send rent to, the exiting tenant informed us we'd only be receiving partial rent this month.

I'm obviously furious with the prior management company. I have been in a family that's owned rental properties for quite some time, so I know that finding tenants is part of the deal. It's how it was handled, and the fact that they let an existing tenant out of the lease just days before we closed with no communication. It's also not an issue of financial hardship or family emergency, as tenant is moving into a new apartment nearby with similar cost.

Thoughts on how to handle this? Do we have any recourse?

Thanks! Looking forward to being a part of the community here.

[Greg Powers]

Jeff, you may get a few replies to this question, but you should really direct it to a New Hampshire attorney.  PM me and I can refer you to several who handle real estate transactions and landlord/tenant law.

And congratulations on your purchase-I think.  :)