While I was never really close to my landlord, he liked me because I speak French, and he found that fantastic. But about a month and a half ago, he died, and I have been speaking with his heirs every now and then about what was going to happen.
So, they decided yesterday that they want to sell the house and collect the money, which is fine, except that they’ve given me my 60-day notice. And that has really been bothering me. First, because I feel homeless already. Second, because I was planning on leaving in about 100 days or so, and this means I have a 40-day living-arrangement problem. Third, hi, Opal! Fourth, I’m graduating this quarter, and I really don’t have time to look for a new place.
In short, this really sucks, and while I’ve tried talking to the heirs, they want me out as soon as possible. They would have kicked me out sooner, but they can’t. I feel lost and angry, and that is not a combination that I like all that much.
I assume you didn’t have a rental agreement that extended through the 100 days you’d planned on originally? Because I’m pretty sure that you can’t be evicted for nothing.
Leases where I live are almost always month to month. I probably should have mentioned that. But I’ve never known anyone to have problems with that, until my little adventure.
It’s too bad they can’t let you stay there until it actually sells, unless they already have a buyer lined up. What are your options? Do you have a lot of furniture and stuff? Could you move into a long-term cheap hotel? Where I live people are always advertising “room available for one or two months” or similar. If it’s a college town I would think this would happen a lot, people needing a place to finish the year when something didn’t work out. Of course that could mean that everything available has been taken by others in your type situation. Sixty days seems like a good chunk of time during which you could find a place even if you are really busy, but of course I don’t know your situation. Good luck.
I’m a landlord, and I’m sorry that you have been put into that spot. But you do not want to stay there past the 60 days and get eviction proceedings filed against you. Times are hard, and landlords are screening tenants more carefully than ever. Evictions are a matter of public record, and the first thing I look for when screening a tenant. In my state, Missouri, an eviction stays on your public record for 20 years. If a prospective tenant has even one eviction, I will pass them over in favor of a tenant with no prior landlord complaints. Very rarely do I ever make any exceptions.
If you have an eviction on record, it will dog you for years, and keep you out of better housing.
If you can put your belongings in storage and stay with friends, that would be better for you in the long run. Don’t let it become a legal matter.
I don’ know what the law is where you are located, but in my state, a landlord can sue for double the rent if you stay past the time you were supposed to be out. I’ve never done this, but I know it can be done.
I hope you can find somewhere to stay without too much trouble. Best of luck to you.
In most jurisdictions that I’m familiar with, selling the rental property is one of the conditions in which a landlord may legally evict a tenant. Most places have a caveat about the rental property having X or fewer units. For example, if I own a house that I have divided into three apartments (basement, first floor, and second floor) and I sell the house, all the tenants can be legally evicted as long as they get sufficient notice and the new property owner has other plans for the building.
However, IIRC, usually they could only be evicted once their tenancy has come to its end (as you said, if the rental agreement had a fixed term that hasn’t been reached yet) and if the new landlord is not planning on continuing to rent out the units. So if I bought a house that has three apartments in it as an investment property and I still planned on renting out the apartments, I couldn’t kick out the existing tenants and replace them with new ones.
But that’s HERE. The OP would have to look up local landlord/tenant laws to be sure. It really, really sucks to be in that position though. I’ve been there when moving from my “student town” to my “summer job town”. You get stuck in a lousy time limbo.
If you’d like to be a real dick about it, you can just stay in the apartment after the 60 days. Tell them to evict you. It will take another 90 days to get approved, and mean while you aren’t paying your rent.
Just saying that it’s cheaper than fretting for 40 days. Of course, YMMV.
In my jurisdiction, last time I checked (when it happened to me), landlords can evict you to put in a family member or sell the place with three month’s notice (my landlord kicked both of his tenants out - I never got a real reason from him). If it’s two month’s notice where the OP is, it’s too bad, but it’s totally legal.
I have an eviction on record. My landlord sold the place, and the new landlord jacked up the rent by 150%. This was when I was unemployed. He invited me to stay, but only if I agreed to pay the jacked up rent. I told him I’d think about it. The next week I got an eviction notice. I called the lawyer who drew it up and she said that it was just a formality, and I could stay if I wanted.
At the end of the next month, I was packed and the moving truck was in front of my place. A week later, the new landlord called at my new place – at a phone number that wasn’t even in the same town – and asked if I was planning on staying.
I did everything legal and by the book. And now I have an eviction hanging over my head?!?
RadicalPi, I get your frustration. You fear being homeless, and at a very inconvenient time in your life. I’ve been there.
But a lot can happen in 60 days. Do you have a friend you can crash with for a while? Can you ask your landlords heirs to help you find a temporary situation? I mean, I’m sure that they’re looking out for their own best interests, but they’re probably not evil people who want to make you homeless. Maybe you can remind them of that.
If I were you I would speak with a lawyer. There are usually laws regarding the sale of a property as a cause for eviction, like having a contract for the sale and escrowed funds before you can even start with giving you proper notice. And there are laws regarding form and service for those notices.
Don’t feel bullied by the thought of an eviction over your head. While they may have the right to evict you, they still have to follow the law.
tdn I’m not a lawyer, and luckily we have never had to evict anyone so far. I was giving a future prospective landlord’s view of the matter. If court papers were filed, it will show up in public record. At least it does in Missouri. Were you supposed to appear in court, or was it just a warning letter from the lawyer? Evictions take a while. We have sent warning letters before, but not gone as far as going to court. Maybe that is what happened in your case. You might be able to do a free search of your state’s court records. Hopefully you will find nothing there about it. ::fingers crossed::
I hate it when landlords jack their tenants like that. Maybe he had a much higher mortgage than the former landlord, but it still sucks. We are no longer buying houses (I’m trying to get my hubby to get out of the business), but when we did, we would not buy one that was occupied. Then we could set the rent where we needed it to be (after repairs, etc) without hurting anyone.
We did rent to one tenant with an eviction on record. She told us all about it before we found out on our own, which helped. It also helped that we knew of her old landlord and his reputation. She paid religiously and we later sold her the house. But usually an eviction is a huge red flag.
It was probably just a warning letter. I’m pretty sure it said “Notice of Eviction”, but it was eight years ago and I’m sure I don’t have the letter anymore. At any rate I was out two days earlier than I had to be and I never did go to court. So I’m probably OK.
And where, exactly is the ‘record’ of eviction being kept?
Unless the new potential landlord requests the phone number of your previous landlord, there is no accessible ‘record’ of evictions. There is a record, of course, papers have been filed. But there is no centralized record keeping that anyone can access to know if you’ve ever been evicted.
I was a landlord for 10 years. No, you don’t have an eviction on your record. In order for you to have an eviction on record, it would have had to go to court and a judgment of eviction would have had to be entered.
You have never been “evicted”. You were asked to leave and the landlord covered their ass in the event that you didn’t, by issuing a written “notice”. If you had stayed, they could have then gone to court and shown that “notice” as evidence that they had asked you to leave and you didn’t.
Here is the site for the court records in Missouri. It’s free, and anyone can use it to search for things that are of public record, like eviction. We enter the person’s name and see what pops up. https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do
Some states charge a small fee, others don’t. Depends on where you live.