Can a landlord break a lease to renovate.

[kklblue1]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota. I live in a side by side small house. My landlord is a man who owns 10 of these side by side houses via an LLC. He died suddenly in May. His wife and family really don't have the stamina to be the property owners. They are looking at selling the entire lot of 10 houses to a "broker" real estate type person.

My question is, if I am in a year long lease with the current owner does the new landlord have to honor that lease or can they cancel the lease and evict me to renovate the side by side houses. I hear they are wanting to drop quite a bit of $ into the side by side units and resell.

Thank you.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota. I live in a side by side small house. My landlord is a man who owns 10 of these side by side houses via an LLC. He died suddenly in May. His wife and family really don't have the stamina to be the property owners. They are looking at selling the entire lot of 10 houses to a "broker" real estate type person.

My question is, if I am in a year long lease with the current owner does the new landlord have to honor that lease or can they cancel the lease and evict me to renovate the side by side houses. I hear they are wanting to drop quite a bit of $ into the side by side units and resell.

Thank you.

They need to honor your lease.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The new owner takes the property encumbered by the lease and therefore must abide by the lease terms. Read your lease carefully, some leases allow for termination of the lease if the owner sells the property. If your lease has that kind of condition in it then the new owners may terminate the lease once they take over because it wouldn't violate the lease terms.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota. I live in a side by side small house. My landlord is a man who owns 10 of these side by side houses via an LLC. He died suddenly in May. His wife and family really don't have the stamina to be the property owners. They are looking at selling the entire lot of 10 houses to a "broker" real estate type person.

My question is, if I am in a year long lease with the current owner does the new landlord have to honor that lease or can they cancel the lease and evict me to renovate the side by side houses. I hear they are wanting to drop quite a bit of $ into the side by side units and resell.

Thank you.

They have to honor the lease or get your agreement with some form of compensation. Often new owners will offer some sort of "cash for keys" option to motivate someone to allow the lease to be broken. Often, in a circumstance like that, the cash they offer is sufficient to cover your cost of finding and moving to a new location.

Or, they could simply opt not to renew leases when they expire, and renovate after the tenants have moved out.

 

[quincy]

Canceling a lease and evicting a tenant simply to renovate a property would not be legal.

 

[LdiJ]

Canceling a lease and evicting a tenant simply to renovate a property would not be legal.

Except perhaps in a situation where the property has been condemned by code enforcement, making the renovations mandatory for habitability. That of course is unlikely to be the case here, but we never know.

 

[quincy]

Except perhaps in a situation where the property has been condemned by code enforcement, making the renovations mandatory for habitability. That of course is unlikely to be the case here, but we never know.

A condemned property would not be habitable so there would still be no eviction of a tenant by the property owner. There could be an order to vacate, however.

https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/Handbooks/LT/CH4.asp#:~:text=According to state law, legitimate,§ 504B

 

[kklblue1]

Thank you for all the responses. The properties are actually in great shape. The potential owners want to change all the 1 bedrooms into 2 bedrooms to be able to charge more.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for all the responses. The properties are actually in great shape. The potential owners want to change all the 1 bedrooms into 2 bedrooms to be able to charge more.

How much longer is your lease?

If the owners are anxious to start renovations, you are in a pretty good position to ask for an incentive to move out early (such as the “cash for keys” option mentioned earlier by LdiJ). Otherwise the landlord/tenant laws appear to be on your side should you insist on finishing out your tenancy.

 

[kklblue1]

The rent I currently pay is really reasonable for the area. I am hoping to stay as long as I can. I have my elderly father living with me so moving would be awful. I have 11 months left on my lease. the sale idea came up quite quickly as when I signed me lease nothing was mentioned.

Thank you! that is some what of a relief.

 

[quincy]

The rent I currently pay is really reasonable for the area. I am hoping to stay as long as I can. I have my elderly father living with me so moving would be awful. I have 11 months left on my lease. the sale idea came up quite quickly as when I signed me lease nothing was mentioned.

Thank you! that is some what of a relief.

If you cannot replace your current rental with a rental of similar size and price, you should be fine staying in the rental until your lease expires.

Because you know a future move is inevitable, however, it would be smart to start checking out other rentals now, so you are not frantically searching for a new place to live at the last moment. Landlords often will start advertising their rental properties six months in advance of actual vacancies. Reserving a rental space within the next few months may be necessary to ensure there is a place available for you when you need it.

Good luck with the new owners.

 

[adjusterjack]

The rent I currently pay is really reasonable for the area. I am hoping to stay as long as I can. I have my elderly father living with me so moving would be awful. I have 11 months left on my lease. the sale idea came up quite quickly as when I signed me lease nothing was mentioned.

Thank you! that is some what of a relief.

You still need to read your lease thoroughly and carefully, like you were studying for a test tomorrow.

And become knowledgeable of your state's landlord-tenant statutes.

Ch. 504B MN Statutes

 

[zddoodah]

My question is, if I am in a year long lease with the current owner does the new landlord have to honor that lease or can they cancel the lease and evict me

It's worth pointing out that, based on what you wrote, your landlord did not die.

According to you, your landlord is an LLC. The fact that the/an owner of the LLC died doesn't change that. Was the deceased the sole member of the LLC? If not, who are the other members of the LLC? Does the LLC have employees other than the now-deceased member?

If the deceased member's executor sells his interest in the LLC, then nothing should change. On the other hand, if the executor steps into the deceased member's shoes as an owner of the LLC, and if the deceased was the sole member of the LLC, and if the LLC sells the home in which you live, then the buyer would be bound by the terms of your lease. Of course, once your lease expires you could be made to leave. If you see the writing on the wall, it might be in your best interests to try to negotiate an early termination of your lease in exchange for some sort of cash incentive (that could be used to fund moving expenses).

 

[quincy]

It sounds to me as if the LLC might be a family LLC, mostly because of the fairly rapid move from the death of the landlord and the family’s expressed interest in renovating and selling the houses.

 

[LdiJ]

It sounds to me as if the LLC might be a family LLC, mostly because of the fairly rapid move from the death of the landlord and the family’s expressed interest in renovating and selling the houses.

There are an awful lot of people today in the business of flipping properties. They buy properties rapidly, often for cash and want to renovate and turn them around quickly. Therefore while I won't disagree that it is possible that its a family LLC, I think it is more likely that it is one of the companies or individuals who are in that business.