Can a tenant sue me for giving a notice to vacate?

[Todd Snyder]

My wife and I are about to close on our first house hack. It's a duplex in a neighborhood the we think is going to grow exponentially over the next 5 years. Both units should be renting out for $850. They are currently not under the old landlords month to month lease ($750 and $700). Both units are up to date on rent and have never been late. We asked one side ($750) to move out so we can move in and do some cosmetic things to bring it up to date. They were not happy of course, but they are currently looking for a new place. The $700 unit on the other hand is metro. We just found out during due diligence that metro is only paying $560 and the current owner is legally having the tenant pay the rest out of pocket. It gets better though, she told us that her son hired a lawyer when they found out that the other unit was getting relocated because they were worried they had to move as well. We had just moved up closing on this property to next week due to the crisis the world is going through as well, so we feel we have a limited window. We wont be accepting anything more then what metro is giving us, but we cant do that forever. We will need to have her relocate and there is a high chance she will lawyer up. We want to be very careful not to violate any Fair Housing Laws. Should we have the current landlord break the news to them? Should we go back on having the other side ($750) move out and say we want to move into her ($560) side instead? How would you handle this interesting situation? 

[David Clay]

Metro is a term unfamiliar to me, but I live in Florida. I'd be interested in seeing how this turns out. Have you read the statute on the issue? It might be a simple solution in the statute. My thinking is that it is your property and you can terminate the lease if you want to, regardless of her funding status, so long as you do it at the end of whatever contract you have with her now that you own the property (or will own?). Also, why take less money than the $700 she had been paying before? Shoulder shrug. 

Maybe take the $150 dif between what Metro pays and what she pays and tell her that you'll give her $1000 (150x6 +100 out of pocket) in six months to help her with her transition to a new place since she's been such a good tenant for so long, blah, blah, blah. Again, shoulder shrug. 

Alternatively, raise the rent to market rate. If she can pay market rate without any changes to the unit then that's a win for you. If she pays you save money on the rehab as she is obviously fine living there as it is currently. If she can't make the payments and decides to move out then you're not terminating her lease as she will have had to make a financial decision that we all have to make in one way or another. I think if you find a way to make it her decision without being mean or condescending she'll appreciate you for it. The reality is that you're buying an income stream and you should try to maximize it. I don't wish bad for her and I'm not saying do something evil. I have two inherited tenants who are older and can't pay more than they were when I bought my building. I have raised the rent on four of 6 units, but I leave them alone. To be fair and honest, they're my best tenants in that building anyway. No problems, no complaints, never anything other than kind words and a laugh. These were just suggestions anyway. Good luck.