removing old tenant with rent control from duplex deal

[Mario F.]

Hello, I put an offer down on a duplex in Cypress Park Los Angeles. It's looking like a pretty good deal except for one huge concern that I have regarding a tenant who is occupying one of the units.  She is an older lady, maybe 75 years old who has lived there for 40 years and is paying only 350 dollars a month for rent. The place needs massive renovations but I'm not sure if she will leave after closing.

The agent/seller has asked me to pay an extra 18k to remove her. He has assured me that she will leave and has agreed to move with her daughter. I talked to one of the neighbors who has a relationship with the lady and apparently, the lady hasn't mentioned anything about actually leaving.  In fact, they've been trying to get her out for a while and because she hasn't accepted any offers to leave, they have been unsuccessful in selling the property.  

So here's the deal. We asked if we could keep the 18k in escrow contingent on her vacating the property. If she doesn't leave, I keep the money. The seller gave us a counter offer. He asked if only 10k could be kept in escrow and assured that the lady will leave shortly after closing.  

The question I have for you guys is should I trust the agent?  Should I close on this deal with her still living there? He's had a lot of issues trying to sell this property and now I understand why. Seems like a headache.  Her two sons also live in the unit and it's only 450 square feet!  They are pretty thug -ish too, which might compromise my safety if I need to confront them to leave.

My agent is telling me that the only way to actually get her out of the unit is if I need to move one of my family members in to it. He seems to be pretty confident she will move.  How does that work?  She's an old sick lady and I'm thinking it might be extremely hard to get her to leave considering she's on rent control and paying only $350.  I fear that I will pay the 18k and still risk the chance she won't leave. How would you handle this?

Thanks

mario