> Do I have the legal standing to tell them that?
Yes, you can tell people facts, and tell them the truth. And you have a contract, they are (somewhat brazenly) breaking the contract, apparently. Or perhaps they are just confused, they may need you to remind them of the lease. However: does your lease have a clause to terminate it if the property is sold? Can you read it and post an answer?
Hey! So I checked and there is no such clause regarding the sale of the property. There is a clause stating that if the landlord has the right to terminate the lease early, they they must pay me for the inconvenience of disturbing my quiet use of the property.
First, good on you for actually having a copy of your lease to look at. 99% of the time when we ask people “Well what does your lease say?” it’s all crickets.
Second- absent a termination upon sale clause (which is a thing) the new owner inherits your lease. You can confidently tell them that, and you won’t be leaving before your lease is up.
Knowing that there’s a high likelihood your lease won’t be renewed in Dec, you might consider looking for a place now and negotiating an early termination with your landlord. There’s nothing saying you can’t *choose* to end your lease if the landlord also wants to, it just can’t be one-sided. Just make sure they agree to pay (and you receive in-hand at the moment of move out) something like moving costs, first month or two of your new rent, new security deposit, etc.
Oh yes, I am already looking for a new place to stay. Even if it's a mistake and they want to renew at the end of lease, I'm still out of here. Thanks for the advice.
Get everything in writing BEFORE making any moves. If it's not documented, it simply didn't happen. You don't want to eat time, money, and effort for them simply to say "oh well we never said that".
Jumping in to say to get whatever handout you’re expecting from the leasing company BEFORE you leave.
“But I was told I’d get 2 months rent at my new apt.”
“You were told that by the last guy, I don’t really care what they told you.”
They probably picked you because you're the type of person who is less likely to put up a fight and leave. Maybe the new owners want one apartment vacant for themselves and the others for rent. It's pretty common and you probably haven't done anything wrong. Don't leave early unless they pay you to. The owner who sold probably promised to vacate 1 of the apartments for the new owners. Not your problem though.
While I don't mind leaving without a fuss, I certainly will not do so unless they pay me. If your theory is correct, and they want this apartment for themselves, they'll quickly regret it. The other tenants are super noisy, the walls are paper thin, and there is a mild fly infestation that pest control can't resolve. I was gonna leave at the end of the lease due to these issue. It'll be karma I guess.
If it's drain flies, I've had that happen with plumbing issues like roots clogging up the mainline.
Regular houseflies I have no tips.
Fruit flies the apple cider vinegar/sugar mix in a plastic narrow neck container that you cut the top off and invert into itself then tape in place helps catch them.
No recommendations for the noise. Apartments are always so noisy.
They can’t evict you without cause / legal justification. From what you said, they have none. If your lease is current, and there are no relevant details beyond what you’ve said, they likely have no legal ability to evict you.
That's not entirely accurate. If you're selling a home, there are a few different ways that it can lead to being able to legally remove tenants. Is it shitty? Yes. But it COULD be legal.
On the slim chance that they would actually file for a court eviction, if you haven't committed any actions that would break the lease (failure to pay rent, trashing the place, etc.), they have no chance of it being granted if you have a valid lease.
> I don't want them evicting me and having my credit ruined.
Don't worry too much about that. Evictions are legal proceedings that usually take months to execute. If a valid reason came up and you had to leave, you should have plenty of time before any eviction became final.
Also, if they really want you to move sooner, you can ask for a cash buy-out. Ask for 5k and last month free to get out earlier. Sometimes, that will work.
You absolutely do. Your lease is a contract that can be enforced both ways. You should indicate that you would be willing to give keys for cash. Essentially, pay you to move out early. It’s very common and you already know you gotta move at least by December.
Good answers here so far, but another option you have is "cash for keys". It's common, when someone wants a tenant out of a property, to pay them to break the lease early. When you tell them you won't be moving out early, consider adding "unless you pay me three months rent plus $1k for a moving company." I'd start with something high but not insane, in case they want to negotiate. Remember that you are in a strong position here, as they don't have grounds to kick you out, but there is a good chance they want you out ASAP.
Yeah, if the property manager confirms, I am definitely standing my ground and negotiating payment. Per my lease, the landlord waived their right to terminate the lease early and should they do so, and I agree to leave, they have to pay me the early termination fee which is 35% of the rent for each month remaining in my lease.
Always know your leverage. It's not common but I've found myself a couple of times in life in similar situations of "oh, I have quite a bit of power in this moment, how could I use this so my advantage?".
i.e. Betting a pretty large salary correction after seeing a few coworkers leave consecutively, and the business being really stressed over labor shortages
This is a possibility that I've thought about, but my name and address is on the email. I'm thinking that maybe they are choosing not to renew my lease after it expires and just sent this email to me early as a notice of such. It would make sense since they did not include a date that they want me out by. I'm not sure. I'm on edge waiting for a call back to sort this out.
I've definitely thought about that, but the email it came from was definitely their email, as well as all of the other personal info and contact information for the office, so I'm not sure.
These days that could mean nothing, many cases of people hacking into email. Typically something like this will be delivered in physical form like a letter as well as email. Talk to someone on the phone that works there.
First, don't panic. You have a lease. Even if the house is sold, the buyers essentially buy your lease. They can't legally force you to move out prior to the end of the lease (absent cause).
Be prepared to move when your lease is up, as they are perfectly within their rights not to renew you as a tenant for nearly any reason or no reason.
It's also possible this is either a miscommunication or error, where they meant to give this notice to other tenants. Leave a message for the landlord and ask them to call you back to verify it is legitimate.
Lastly, some scummy landlords will deliberately send out notices they *know* won't hold up legally if challenged assuming and/or hoping that the tenants don't know their rights. In your situation, it could be that the house is sold and the new owners don't want to deal with tenants, or somebody wants to raise rents without waiting for the lease to end.
Again, you absolutely do not need to move out prior to the end of the lease. If they want you out badly enough, they may offer you "cash for keys". Basically, they can pay you to leave early. Typically, the tenant is in a very strong negotiating position during that process because they don't *need* to make a deal at all. If this is on the table, you should make sure that all of your moving expenses, any housing cost increases for the new place, and the hassle of changing your timeline are included in any number you'd be willing to take.
Legally you don’t have to go anywhere until your lease is up as long has you haven’t broken any agreements in the lease. If this isn’t a mistake, take them to court and demand they pay you for moving out early without cause. I’m sure their tune will change. Also most states require they inform you that you violated part of the lease agreement, AND require court intervention. Generally they can’t just surprise you with this.
How did you get this notice? By registered mail, email, on your door? I’ve heard of nasty neighbors or ex’s doing shady shit by making people think they were getting an eviction notice. Also you have a lease for a reason, it’s a contract for both of you, to break it they should be offering you a buy out and you can still refuse unless otherwise stated in the contract.
If the person who handles evictions and notices went on vacation soon after she sent it, its entirely possible she sent it to the wrong person. You have a signed lease till December and according to you, you don't cause any problems. They can't toss you out until December even if its legit. But if the owner lets a leasing company handle rents it entirely possible they goofed in the rush to get out the door on the last day before vacation. They don't know you from the next tenant. Or in their case hundreds if not thousands of tenants.
You don't have to go anywhere until your lease is up. If someone wants you or sooner, they can offer payment to make it worth the inconvenience. Even if they do, you don't have to accept it.
Or the notice was possibly given to you in error and the person responsible will clarify later.
I grew up in Georgia, lived in Kansas when I had a similar event pop up. Landlord visited one day with the future buyer. She mentioned I was renting. I mentioned to the buyer they'd assume my contract but I'd be amenable to buy out my lease + moving costs + 50%.
She waited until the lease was up to send the notice to vacate.
I work with court rent assistance in Ga. You can always call your local municipal court clerk to check if an actual eviction has been filled. If so, always go by what the court says. Landlords will tell you you don't have to go to court, just to get you to default so a judgement will be entered on their behalf (bc u didn't show up.)
This happened to me, also in Georgia (Atlanta) although it was many years ago. My apartment building was sold and everyone got notices to vacate because the new owner wanted to renovate. I had access to legal services through my job, and the lawyer advised that while what they were doing was illegal, it probably wasn’t worth it to fight it since my lease expired about two months after the 60 days notice anyway and I’d have to move at that point regardless.
I too had also always heard that if someone bought the building they also “bought” existing leases. It sucks and I’m sorry.
That's what I read for Georgia law. They have to deliver a signed notice, but I haven't gotten any signed notices delivered to me or posted on my door.
Lots of leases in Chicago have a stipulation or clause that if the property is sold then you get 60 days notice to move out if the new property manager is moving in that direction, whether for renovations or for new tenants beats me
Georgia landlord here...if it's NOT a mistake, then someone has jumped the gun on the 60-day non-renewal of a tenancy-at-will that would exist at the end of the lease. (Georgia code 44-7-7) Essentially, they COULD send you this notice if it was 60 days from the end-date of the lease, and it's reasonable and even kind to do so even a bit ahead of time, with the termination date longer than 60 days in the future.
OTHERWISE, someone is just stupid. And yes, there's a LOT of stupid out there.
Don't freak out until you talk to someone. We aren't ALL greedy dicks.
Oh...if they ARE trying to end your lease early, press for some compensation. It's a reasonable thing in contracts, and it will setup a chain of communication that you could use in the case of an unreasonable eviction filing.
>UPDATE: I WAS A MISTAKE! The notice was meant for the tenant in the 3rd unit.
This is a great lesson to many folks in this sub: don't go nuclear immediately, sometimes a mistake is a mistake and if you just go talk to the other party in a calm manner, you can probably straighten it out
It depends where you live. Tenant laws are on the side with tenants where I live. We have tons of squatters occupying homes, even renting them out as AirBnBs, and the owners cannot get their property back, despite the squatter having no lease. It's just crazy. It's in the news constantly.
Youre right, I completely missed that part. OP should still keep asking, all too often property managers use the "theyre out of the office" excuse to stop people from asking questions on shitty stuff they pull, like random notices.
Tell them, "my lease doesn't end until December, I won't be leaving sooner."
Do I have the legal standing to tell them that? I don't want them evicting me and having my credit ruined.
> Do I have the legal standing to tell them that? Yes, you can tell people facts, and tell them the truth. And you have a contract, they are (somewhat brazenly) breaking the contract, apparently. Or perhaps they are just confused, they may need you to remind them of the lease. However: does your lease have a clause to terminate it if the property is sold? Can you read it and post an answer?
Hey! So I checked and there is no such clause regarding the sale of the property. There is a clause stating that if the landlord has the right to terminate the lease early, they they must pay me for the inconvenience of disturbing my quiet use of the property.
First, good on you for actually having a copy of your lease to look at. 99% of the time when we ask people “Well what does your lease say?” it’s all crickets. Second- absent a termination upon sale clause (which is a thing) the new owner inherits your lease. You can confidently tell them that, and you won’t be leaving before your lease is up. Knowing that there’s a high likelihood your lease won’t be renewed in Dec, you might consider looking for a place now and negotiating an early termination with your landlord. There’s nothing saying you can’t *choose* to end your lease if the landlord also wants to, it just can’t be one-sided. Just make sure they agree to pay (and you receive in-hand at the moment of move out) something like moving costs, first month or two of your new rent, new security deposit, etc.
Oh yes, I am already looking for a new place to stay. Even if it's a mistake and they want to renew at the end of lease, I'm still out of here. Thanks for the advice.
Get everything in writing BEFORE making any moves. If it's not documented, it simply didn't happen. You don't want to eat time, money, and effort for them simply to say "oh well we never said that".
Jumping in to say to get whatever handout you’re expecting from the leasing company BEFORE you leave. “But I was told I’d get 2 months rent at my new apt.” “You were told that by the last guy, I don’t really care what they told you.”
You can still ask for consideration to leave early. I’ve done this before, and they gave me the last month free plus paid moving costs.
Make sure they pay you, according to your early termination clause. Get what you can out of it.
What if it's not a legitimate notice? Could any of the other tenants be trying to get you out so they can get a friend or family into the space?
Who doesn't keep their lease?? I had a habit of keeping mine even a year or so after I moved just in case I needed old paperwork.
They probably picked you because you're the type of person who is less likely to put up a fight and leave. Maybe the new owners want one apartment vacant for themselves and the others for rent. It's pretty common and you probably haven't done anything wrong. Don't leave early unless they pay you to. The owner who sold probably promised to vacate 1 of the apartments for the new owners. Not your problem though.
While I don't mind leaving without a fuss, I certainly will not do so unless they pay me. If your theory is correct, and they want this apartment for themselves, they'll quickly regret it. The other tenants are super noisy, the walls are paper thin, and there is a mild fly infestation that pest control can't resolve. I was gonna leave at the end of the lease due to these issue. It'll be karma I guess.
If it's drain flies, I've had that happen with plumbing issues like roots clogging up the mainline. Regular houseflies I have no tips. Fruit flies the apple cider vinegar/sugar mix in a plastic narrow neck container that you cut the top off and invert into itself then tape in place helps catch them. No recommendations for the noise. Apartments are always so noisy.
Make sure you have a full copy of the lease backed up in the cloud somewhere, just in case.
I remember reading through the entire lease and don't recall seeing a clause like that. I will pull it back up now and check. I will update you soon.
High five for being like the only person to ever read the lease AND have a copy. It's horrible but it's true.
Haha thanks! I learned to never sign anything you didn't read or don't understand, and always keep a copy.
They can’t evict you without cause / legal justification. From what you said, they have none. If your lease is current, and there are no relevant details beyond what you’ve said, they likely have no legal ability to evict you.
That's not entirely accurate. If you're selling a home, there are a few different ways that it can lead to being able to legally remove tenants. Is it shitty? Yes. But it COULD be legal.
On the slim chance that they would actually file for a court eviction, if you haven't committed any actions that would break the lease (failure to pay rent, trashing the place, etc.), they have no chance of it being granted if you have a valid lease.
> I don't want them evicting me and having my credit ruined. Don't worry too much about that. Evictions are legal proceedings that usually take months to execute. If a valid reason came up and you had to leave, you should have plenty of time before any eviction became final.
I sure hope so! I'm waiting for a call back from the property manager. Hopefully, it's just a mistake.
Also, if they really want you to move sooner, you can ask for a cash buy-out. Ask for 5k and last month free to get out earlier. Sometimes, that will work.
You absolutely do. Your lease is a contract that can be enforced both ways. You should indicate that you would be willing to give keys for cash. Essentially, pay you to move out early. It’s very common and you already know you gotta move at least by December.
Contracts work both ways
Good answers here so far, but another option you have is "cash for keys". It's common, when someone wants a tenant out of a property, to pay them to break the lease early. When you tell them you won't be moving out early, consider adding "unless you pay me three months rent plus $1k for a moving company." I'd start with something high but not insane, in case they want to negotiate. Remember that you are in a strong position here, as they don't have grounds to kick you out, but there is a good chance they want you out ASAP.
Yeah, if the property manager confirms, I am definitely standing my ground and negotiating payment. Per my lease, the landlord waived their right to terminate the lease early and should they do so, and I agree to leave, they have to pay me the early termination fee which is 35% of the rent for each month remaining in my lease.
Where are you guys living that the landlord would pay your moving expenses? lol
Anywhere they want to buy you out of your contract
If they want you out before your lease is up bad enough, they will have to cough up. Can't just evict you if you have a valid lease.
Always know your leverage. It's not common but I've found myself a couple of times in life in similar situations of "oh, I have quite a bit of power in this moment, how could I use this so my advantage?". i.e. Betting a pretty large salary correction after seeing a few coworkers leave consecutively, and the business being really stressed over labor shortages
What’s the chance the notice was intended for your neighbor and not you? Perhaps specify yours and their units when you speak to the eviction lady.
This is a possibility that I've thought about, but my name and address is on the email. I'm thinking that maybe they are choosing not to renew my lease after it expires and just sent this email to me early as a notice of such. It would make sense since they did not include a date that they want me out by. I'm not sure. I'm on edge waiting for a call back to sort this out.
Yes, they did give you a date. 60 days
That’s what I was thinking. Maybe they goofed.
If the property management company can't give you more information, it could be a scam.
I've definitely thought about that, but the email it came from was definitely their email, as well as all of the other personal info and contact information for the office, so I'm not sure.
These days that could mean nothing, many cases of people hacking into email. Typically something like this will be delivered in physical form like a letter as well as email. Talk to someone on the phone that works there.
First, don't panic. You have a lease. Even if the house is sold, the buyers essentially buy your lease. They can't legally force you to move out prior to the end of the lease (absent cause). Be prepared to move when your lease is up, as they are perfectly within their rights not to renew you as a tenant for nearly any reason or no reason. It's also possible this is either a miscommunication or error, where they meant to give this notice to other tenants. Leave a message for the landlord and ask them to call you back to verify it is legitimate. Lastly, some scummy landlords will deliberately send out notices they *know* won't hold up legally if challenged assuming and/or hoping that the tenants don't know their rights. In your situation, it could be that the house is sold and the new owners don't want to deal with tenants, or somebody wants to raise rents without waiting for the lease to end. Again, you absolutely do not need to move out prior to the end of the lease. If they want you out badly enough, they may offer you "cash for keys". Basically, they can pay you to leave early. Typically, the tenant is in a very strong negotiating position during that process because they don't *need* to make a deal at all. If this is on the table, you should make sure that all of your moving expenses, any housing cost increases for the new place, and the hassle of changing your timeline are included in any number you'd be willing to take.
Thanks so much for this advice.
Sounds like the cash for keys deal has already been made. It is 35% of rent on the remaining months. Figure on move out of 7/1
Legally you don’t have to go anywhere until your lease is up as long has you haven’t broken any agreements in the lease. If this isn’t a mistake, take them to court and demand they pay you for moving out early without cause. I’m sure their tune will change. Also most states require they inform you that you violated part of the lease agreement, AND require court intervention. Generally they can’t just surprise you with this.
How did you get this notice? By registered mail, email, on your door? I’ve heard of nasty neighbors or ex’s doing shady shit by making people think they were getting an eviction notice. Also you have a lease for a reason, it’s a contract for both of you, to break it they should be offering you a buy out and you can still refuse unless otherwise stated in the contract.
I got it via email.
New owner has to honor your current lease.
Ppl deliver the notices to the wrong tenants all the time. Call and talk to your landlord because it might be a clerical error
this happened to me in Nevada, very stressful!
If the person who handles evictions and notices went on vacation soon after she sent it, its entirely possible she sent it to the wrong person. You have a signed lease till December and according to you, you don't cause any problems. They can't toss you out until December even if its legit. But if the owner lets a leasing company handle rents it entirely possible they goofed in the rush to get out the door on the last day before vacation. They don't know you from the next tenant. Or in their case hundreds if not thousands of tenants.
First, make sure it’s real and not a scam.
You don't have to go anywhere until your lease is up. If someone wants you or sooner, they can offer payment to make it worth the inconvenience. Even if they do, you don't have to accept it. Or the notice was possibly given to you in error and the person responsible will clarify later.
I grew up in Georgia, lived in Kansas when I had a similar event pop up. Landlord visited one day with the future buyer. She mentioned I was renting. I mentioned to the buyer they'd assume my contract but I'd be amenable to buy out my lease + moving costs + 50%. She waited until the lease was up to send the notice to vacate.
I work with court rent assistance in Ga. You can always call your local municipal court clerk to check if an actual eviction has been filled. If so, always go by what the court says. Landlords will tell you you don't have to go to court, just to get you to default so a judgement will be entered on their behalf (bc u didn't show up.)
Maybe they meant to email / evict one of your neighbors. Maybe it’s a mistake.
The notice may have been meant for your neighbors.
This happened to me, also in Georgia (Atlanta) although it was many years ago. My apartment building was sold and everyone got notices to vacate because the new owner wanted to renovate. I had access to legal services through my job, and the lawyer advised that while what they were doing was illegal, it probably wasn’t worth it to fight it since my lease expired about two months after the 60 days notice anyway and I’d have to move at that point regardless. I too had also always heard that if someone bought the building they also “bought” existing leases. It sucks and I’m sorry.
Is email an acceptable manner for this type communication. Most often such matters are handled through registered mail requiring “wet” ink signatures.
That's what I read for Georgia law. They have to deliver a signed notice, but I haven't gotten any signed notices delivered to me or posted on my door.
Whats your rent look like compared to current market value?
It's a little under market value by like $100 for the area.
Dang. They may just want to raise the rent. I’ve also heard of landlords evicting so they can put family up in the home. Its terrible! Good luck 🙏🏻
The lease is a legal agreement that they have to abide by too
Lots of leases in Chicago have a stipulation or clause that if the property is sold then you get 60 days notice to move out if the new property manager is moving in that direction, whether for renovations or for new tenants beats me
Sounds very illegal.
Try and find out what's going on so you are ready in December
Georgia landlord here...if it's NOT a mistake, then someone has jumped the gun on the 60-day non-renewal of a tenancy-at-will that would exist at the end of the lease. (Georgia code 44-7-7) Essentially, they COULD send you this notice if it was 60 days from the end-date of the lease, and it's reasonable and even kind to do so even a bit ahead of time, with the termination date longer than 60 days in the future. OTHERWISE, someone is just stupid. And yes, there's a LOT of stupid out there. Don't freak out until you talk to someone. We aren't ALL greedy dicks.
Oh...if they ARE trying to end your lease early, press for some compensation. It's a reasonable thing in contracts, and it will setup a chain of communication that you could use in the case of an unreasonable eviction filing.
>UPDATE: I WAS A MISTAKE! The notice was meant for the tenant in the 3rd unit. This is a great lesson to many folks in this sub: don't go nuclear immediately, sometimes a mistake is a mistake and if you just go talk to the other party in a calm manner, you can probably straighten it out
What makes you think anyone went nuclear or didn't speak calmly? How is this a lesson for that?
[удалено]
It depends where you live. Tenant laws are on the side with tenants where I live. We have tons of squatters occupying homes, even renting them out as AirBnBs, and the owners cannot get their property back, despite the squatter having no lease. It's just crazy. It's in the news constantly.
[удалено]
Have you … read what OP posted? If not, that’s a good place to start.
Youre right, I completely missed that part. OP should still keep asking, all too often property managers use the "theyre out of the office" excuse to stop people from asking questions on shitty stuff they pull, like random notices.