[quote=SD Realtor]…As a first step, ask for a copy of the lease. Have your agent ask the listing agent about the situation with the tenants. Plan your strategy after you find out more information.
I have had short sales where there were tenants in the home and they always were out prior to escrow. I have heard stories about people that were not able to get them out.[/quote]
This is good advice and I agree with everyone here. Realize that these “tenants” may actually be friends or relatives of the owners who have decided to stop paying rent (or are paying a severely-reduced rent) from the point where they discovered the owners were no longer making their mortgage payments. Or there could be a “tacit agreement” outside of their lease or rental agreement (IF they actually have one) that they pay the reduced amount in cash to the owners or continue to squat as long as possible.
It is VERY difficult to get tenants out who are “renting” for free or far below market. The cost of “cash for keys” or eviction will be on the new buyer who closes with tenants still in occupancy. Tenants who are renting a property that is in default know this and there is nothing standing in the way of them “playing the game” to the very end to receive “cash for keys” (similar to what is offered by lenders to overstaying, deadbeat owners).
As CAR posted, accept no excuses. Your offer (or counter offer if you find out the property is tenant-occupied AFTER you place the initial offer) MUST have a contingency that the property be delivered to you vacant and free of the tenants’ (and landlord’s stored) debris (which could cost you thousands to dispose of). Do the final walk thru as least 3 business days before funding and if the premises are not to your satisfaction per your contract, do NOT close.
Deadbeat “short-sellers” either must adhere to the sales contracts they (and their lender[s]) have accepted or be foreclosed upon. They have no other choice so don’t let them get away with this.
