Inherited tenants without a clear lease

[Luke Harris]

I recently purchased my first 4 plex and there are 4 tenants currently living there.  Two of the tenants are problematic, however the previous owner signed leases while were in escrow, and at a rate well below market(I'd prefer to cancel them).  But the copies of the leases I got are illegible and incomplete (1 of 3 pages) and the tenants don't have a copy of the lease.  Would it be reasonable to ask the tenants to sign a new M2M lease?  I will keep the rent amount the same and the new lease will supersede all previous leases.  I will inform the tenants that the new M2M lease is because I don't have a complete/legible copy of the lease and that I would like to establish the M2M lease so both tenant/landlord have a copy of the lease, and so that it will give maximum flexibility to both tenant/landlord.  With the new leases in place, my plan would be to evaluate the tenants, and likely non-renew the leases in the spring.

[Jotham Busfield]

This might be worth running by an attorney.  I would try to get the tenants to sign estoppel agreements stating what their current lease terms are, in order to make sure it adds up with previous owner's claims of lease details, although it might be too late for this if you already own the property. Otherwise, signing a month to month agreement sounds like a good plan to keep rents coming in short-term while you buy yourself time to evaluate...although if your gut is telling you they are bad, you might want to try to peacefully get them to leave ASAP so you don't run into future issues.  Good luck and congrats on the four-plex!

- Jotham