A bank has approved our offer for a short sale of a home in pre-foreclosure. The current owner of the property has told us he will only move forward with settlement if he can have two months free rent back while he finds someplace to go. If it came down to it, and I accepted this offer, to what lengths could the current owner extend his stay beyond those two months--through filing bankruptcies, or other legal means that could prevent me from moving forward with an eviction? Clearly, I am not going to move forward unless I KNOW that I can control when he vacates the property. How long could he potentially "squat", once I settle on the house, before I could have him evicted? Again--for you legal experts out there--this is in the state of Virginia.
Thanks!
2007-09-20 13:17:19 · 7 answers · asked by Justin F 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
If he stays beyond the two months you can take eviction action against him - the legal term is actually an "Unlawful Detainer" action. In normal cases, it can be completed in 2-3 weeks. However, if he fights it in court, he can drag it out another 2-3 months. In nightmare cases I have seen some cases where the evictee fought it for 18 months befroe finally beeing locked out by the Sheriff.
General Rule of thumb in foreclosure and short sale purchases: NEVER allow the old owner to stay in the property. NEVER!
A much better idea is to pay for their first 2-4 months rent at another property - ie he must move - but you will pay for the deposit and two months rent for another place if he is out of the house in time. Then, if there is a problem it is someone else's problem.
Good luck
2007-09-20 13:38:30 · answer #1 · answered by rlloydevans 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I personally would not do it unless you can afford to sit and wait for the property, all while paying your mortgage. Once you sell the house, that person will essentially be a tenant/renter. I am not an attorney, but I will tell you what happened/happening to a good friend of mine in Virginia. She owns a house and moved from it because she got married. She thought it would be a wise investment to rent it out. She got tenants who appeared to be nice people. They lived there for less than a year. The renters (a family) split up. The woman moved out with the kids. Because the woman was paying rent on a new place, she did not pay my friends rent. Because the man knew he was not going to stay in that house without the wife and kids, he decided to save his money too and not pay the rent. The last rent they paid was in March 2007. My friend could not evict the guy until the end of August - apparently there were several court dates and the tenant seems to have more rights than the owner. So at the end of August the guy is evicted. He obviously just took what he wanted and left all of his broken furniture, old magazines, old food, and a ton of other trash all over the place. My girlfriend had to call a special moving company that handles evictions to come and take all the stuff and put it in a huge dumpster that she had to rent and have delivered. She then had to pay for the trailer to be moved and dumped. Then she had to hire several different companies to come and clean the house because she could not take off all the time necessary to fix and clean everything. All of the walls needed repainted and the carpets were ruined and needed to be pulled up. The man was pissed that he was getting evicted so he smashed up the walls and the windows.
So, just because you have a contract, that does not mean your guy won't turn into a squater. I would not do it if I were you. I would find some very cheap hotel and pay for his stay for his 2 months (with no phone service, etc). But, I would not go to settlement with someone in that kind of situation still residing in the house. Good luck to you.
2007-09-20 13:43:46 · answer #2 · answered by Lady 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'd have to get a sheriff to evict him, and that could take lots of time and money. You can get a great deal that's not a short sale, because this is a bad deal all around. If this guy didn't keep his agreement with the bank, what makes you think he's going to keep his agreement with you. Don't be a dumbass, dude, there are so many other options out there. Don't settle.
2007-09-20 14:36:32 · answer #3 · answered by Keep On Trucking 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On the date that title transfers to you, he becomes your tenant. You should address this in the agreement, including the signing of a lease. As soon as the rent is unpaid or he tries to hold over, you proceed with a normal eviction as you would with any tenant. Depending upon where you are, an eviction can take anything from about 40 to 120 days to complete and have him put on the street.
2007-09-20 13:36:50 · answer #4 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not a lawyer...but logical thinking says...get them out, even if you agree to give him 2 months rent to use at an apt complex. I would not set myself up for all of the potential problems with evictions, courts, etc. Do not settle if they will not move out...
2007-09-21 03:54:13 · answer #5 · answered by Christiane 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
at the most if you file for eviction one day after two months would be three weeks, without knowing the state on the day after on the two months file eviction which should take three weeks
2007-09-20 13:25:03 · answer #6 · answered by goz1111 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rent To Own Homes - http://RentToOwnHome.uzaev.com/?mbTn
2016-07-12 13:25:24 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋