Next Steps following a close on an occupied rental

[Matthew Pritchett]

Hopefully it's not too late, but I'm closing on a fourplex today. It's 3/4 occupied and I'm not sure if I need to have rental agreements for the tenants in place today or tomorrow. We have house rules that we give to all our tenants, but we've never purchased with an occupancy, we've always found the tenant and put them on a lease. What do I need to do...or what's the best idea in transitioning the tenants as a landlord?

[Jared Hottle]

More than likely you will need to abide by the terms of the lease already in place so make sure you get a copy of it. You can let them know your house rules but if someone throws a fit or is non-compliant it may be best to endure it if it is not too bad and look at replacing them when the lease is up. I inherited 2 tenants and they were great. I sent a letter letting them know how I would collect money and told them I had a copy of their leases and we would go with them until it expired. I also have a landlord account with the utility companies so I made sure to have it default into my name once tenants left. Did not want to run the risk of them shutting power off or water off once the tenant moved out and having an issue. We also have to register a rental with the city so I made sure to do that once it was in my name.