Just purchased a house with nightmare tenants

[Harold Valencia]

Last week I closed on a two family house that I purchased directly from the owner, she gave me a good deal with the condition that she would stay in the first floor apartment and pay a reduce rent.  The issue is with the second floor tenant, they've been there for 5 years and never had a rent increase.  The previous owner has mobility problems and hasn't been to the apartment since she rented it 5 years ago.  When I did the inspection prior to closing I found out that the dog they have does its business in one of the bedrooms.  There was fresh pee on the hardwood floors and stains from what appeared years of pee.  I looked at their lease which ends in six months, and the lease states "No pets".  My question is, how can I remove these tenants from my property?  They're destroying the apartment and paying about $600 less then market value for it.  TIA..

[Thomas S.]

The damage is already done. Since their lease is almost up I would wait and give notice to non renew. Give them plenty of advance notice. No point in wasting your efforts on a eviction in my opinion. Either way you definatly do not want to keep these tenants.

I assume you made plans to reno their apartment before you purchased the building and included the cost of that when buying.

I would also make plans to move the previous owners rent to market ASAP or get rid of her as well. Keeping her was a poor business decision that has devalued your investment. You need to figure out how to now fix that mistake.

If you have not already done so you need to study/learn all your state landlord tenant regulations....NOW