Does not want to pay

[Jordan Bradberry]

Bought a duplex with renters. One renter is saying she did not sign the lease with me so she does not need to pay the rent. Her lease is up Aug 1st 2018. I became the owner on July 20th 2018. What do I do?

[Michael Mullins]

Get the previous owner involved have her sign another lease or remove her.

[Chris Svendsen]

I would thank them for the notice that they will be terminating their lease on August 1st and wish them well.  Gonna be problem tenent so get rid of them when you got the chance.

[Jordan Bradberry]

Thanks for the advice.

She should pay her $800 to me now correct?

To I have any rights by law to remove her?

[Jim Adrian]

Reminder her the lease relevant to the property she is occupying.   Send her a late notice and reminder her you will evict her in accordance of the law.

You need to review your states "Landlord - Tenant Laws" to know your rights.  I suggest printing them out and making notes, highlight key items, etc on them to give you a better understanding of the laws.

[JD Martin]

I assume you mean you became the owner June 20th, since July 20th isn't here yet? Meaning that she did not pay July's rent?

You should have her deposit from the previous owner. If you don't, then you probably have nothing. Get the eviction process started, maybe you can have her out before 8/1. If you have her deposit, and nothing's damaged, make sure the lease doesn't contain a holdover provision regardless of who the owner is - and if not, then her lease is complete and she can go on her happy way. 

[Michael Randle]

I agree with @Chris Svendsen, going to be a huge problem tenent. Take the opportunity to not renew the lease and get them out August 1st.

She didn't sign a lease with you so will not pay, fine. You as the owner didn't give her permission to stay, so she has to go. Door swings both ways sweat heart.

The 10 day rent pro-rated should be covered under the sale price, along with deposit. So take it out of that money for anything crazy this person will do.

[Andrew B.]

If you don't know what to do at this juncture, your life as a landlord will only get harder. Before you do anything else, download and read your local landlord tenant regulations. When you are done, read them again. it is your responsibility to know the laws in which you need to be in compliance with. once you finish reading you will understand that the terms of a lease carry with the property, and are in full force and effect as though your signature was on the original lease. This means you and tenant are both to abide by those terms still. You will also know that it is in your best interest to deliver your local version of a 5 day notice to pay or vacate. This is the first official step in the eviction process. It gives tenant notice that you have not received rent and they have 3 or 5 days (depending on your location) to pay before you file for formal eviction proceedings. At this point the uninformed landlord hires an attorney to finish the process. This notice is given the first day rent is considered late in your state. (Be careful as some states give a several day grace period to tenants.)

Armed with this information, you should go to tenant and post this notice. At the same time you can inform the tenant that their lease is in full effect and if they refuse to pay you will begin a formal eviction, which will tarnish their ability to rent in the future.

You say the lease is up Aug 1? You still begin the eviction process because if she refuses to leave in Aug, you will have lost an extra month of rent if you don't begin the eviction process immediately.  Under no circumstance should you just wait for her to leave.

if she is leaving soon, make sure you understand the laws surrounding returning security deposits as well. If this is not done properly the tenant can sue you for 1 to 3 times the deposit, depending on state laws. In addition, I hope you got the deposit when you closed, otherwise you owe it to her in accordance with your lease.

[Bob Floss II]

@Jordan Bradberry You can have the seller sign an assignment of lease over to your or your companies name. Typically we have this signed at closing and then post a notice for all the tenants with the new owner information and way to pay rent within 24 hours of closing.

Even then, it's not uncommon for tenants to spin yarns that they forgot and sent the rent to the previous owner and tell the previous owner that they already paid you. They use the confusion to buy a couple weeks without paying rent. You should have received a proration of rent for July, so you should hopefully only be out ten days of rent. If she's already a problem, it might be best to tell her you expect her to be moved out by Aug 1.

[Chris Seveney]

Are you becoming the owner later this month or is your date incorrect

Doesn’t matter it transfers with the property but just curious

If you have not bought it yet then push the closing date till after August 1st and have prior owner not renew lease

[John Thedford]

Post a notice as required by law to pay or move. Along with that attach a property record showing you are the new owner. 

[Matt K.]

if you take ownership of the property mid month, then the land lord owes you the pro rated amount... seeing as the tenant already paid on the 1st of that month.

[Randy E.]

Originally posted by @Jordan Bradberry:

Bought a duplex with renters. One renter is saying she did not sign the lease with me so she does not need to pay the rent. Her lease is up Aug 1st 2018. I became the owner on July 20th 2018. What do I do?

 Does the tenant know for a fact that the property has been sold?  Was there a "For Sale" sign in front before the sale?  Did you present any official documents to her notifying her of the change in ownership.

If the first she heard of any potential sale was a knock on the door and a stranger saying "pay me", it's not odd that she's refusing to pay.  You've been a part of this deal for a long time, and you know about it intimately.  She's a tenant.  She may know nothing about the deal.  Her reticence in paying you may stem from being unaware, not some nefarious intent to live free.

I'd have my lawyer send a letter to all tenants of the property, informing them of the change in ownership and to whom the rent should be paid and how.  If her lease is indeed up on August 1, include a new lease if you want to keep her.  If you don't, it may be too late to have her move by Aug 1.  Many states have a 30-day notification rule.  Also, do you have a copy of her lease with the previous owner?  If you're planning on asking her to leave, you should know for a fact that her lease does indeed expire at the end of July.

[Jaron Walling]

@Andrew B. Really great response! As a landlord you cannot wait for tenants. Staying diligent and proactive before they stop paying rent, cause property damage, or move out unexpectedly is really important. 

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

@Randy E. I really appreciate your response. As a landlord, my knee-jerk reaction is "EVICT!" It's easy to forget that there are two sides to every story.