Inherited tenant awaiting trial for MURDER

[Sam Rogers]

Interesting situation here. I closed on a 3 family property in Rhode Island last week. Met all of the tenants when I was first looking at the place with my realtor and they seemed like they'd be tenants that I'd want to keep. Clean, reasonable people, they wanted to stay, and according to the seller they also were good about paying rent. One of the tenants was a man named Howard and his wife Tammy. Both seemed like nice, respectable people. 

Just started drafting rental agreements for them and figured "why don't I google their names?" First thing that pops up is a news article about Howard's indictment for murder. Quick check of the court records confirms, he is awaiting trial for murder. Furthermore, he has numerous prior felony convictions, etc. He had been out on bail when I had met him at the showing, but since then has been sent back to jail for violation of bail. My understanding is that he is currently being held without bail. 

Perhaps the most appalling thing about all this is that the cosigner for Howard's bail bond was the former owner of the property (apparently Howard works for him). Would have been nice for the seller to disclose this to me.   

Obviously, I want to get rid of them, but I also don't want to get murdered. Would be interesting to hear if anyone has ever been in a similar situation. 

[Matt K.]

and hope howard doesn't google your name...