Tenants that come with a duplex- No Lease in place

[Korey Enstad]

Closing on a duplex in two weeks and one of the units is still occupied. I have been told there is not a lease in place. Any advice on how to handle? Should I let him stay with new lease? Screen him as if he was a new tenant? Ect

Thanks!!

[Joe Splitrock]

@Korey Enstad when people say there is no lease, that is not really an accurate statement. There is always a lease, so they likely mean one of two things:

1. There is no lease term in effect. The tenants original term may have expired and the lease went month to month. Or the original lease was month to month. The point is that there is a written lease, just not a term. The terms of the lease would transfer to you as the new owner. I say terms meaning a lease contains many things beyond just a time period.

2. There is no written lease, meaning the tenant never signed anything. Since the tenant is living there and paying rent, it is a verbal lease. Lack of written lease is very dangerous because it comes down to a verbal agreement between two people.

In either case, I would have the new tenant sign a new lease. Have them sign a month to month lease, so you have recourse to non-renew if they cause trouble. I wouldn't make them go through screening. I am not sure that is even legal in many places, because they already live there.