Land lady dies, her daughter buys house, lease still good?

[abhans]

We found the kind of apartment we needed which was a duplex with the elderly landlady upstairs. It was very quiet and that is what we have to have. We signed a year's lease. This was only three months ago. A few weeks after we moved in, the daughter of the landlady, told us that her Mom was terminally ill and she would be handling the finances for her and nothing would change. Then, the daughter decides to buy the house. She said nothing would change and we would keep the downstairs as a year round rental (this is beach property). She also said she would not rent the upstairs but just use it as an occasional summer home for her family. Now, the mother has died,and the daughter and her family have moved in for what looks to be like the whole summer, with teenagers and lots of noise till 1 am or longer. She is also telling us she may start renting the upstairs as a weekly summer rental if they go back to their own home and then as a full time winter rental this fall. This is nothing like we expected as we wanted a very quiet place to live because of a home business we have where we need peace and quiet to work. We have not signed a new lease with the daughter and she has not mentioned it to us. The old lease with the deceased mother said we had the obligation to stay here for one year and if we moved out, we had to pay the full 12 months in rent which is $12,000. Do we have to stay in this apartment with a changed land lady and changed condition? If we move, do we have to pay that total amount of money as it was stated in our other lease? Thank you for any help you can give in this matter.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by abhans:
We found the kind of apartment we needed which was a duplex with the elderly landlady upstairs. It was very quiet and that is what we have to have. We signed a year's lease. This was only three months ago. A few weeks after we moved in, the daughter of the landlady, told us that her Mom was terminally ill and she would be handling the finances for her and nothing would change. Then, the daughter decides to buy the house. She said nothing would change and we would keep the downstairs as a year round rental (this is beach property). She also said she would not rent the upstairs but just use it as an occasional summer home for her family. Now, the mother has died,and the daughter and her family have moved in for what looks to be like the whole summer, with teenagers and lots of noise till 1 am or longer. She is also telling us she may start renting the upstairs as a weekly summer rental if they go back to their own home and then as a full time winter rental this fall. This is nothing like we expected as we wanted a very quiet place to live because of a home business we have where we need peace and quiet to work. We have not signed a new lease with the daughter and she has not mentioned it to us. The old lease with the deceased mother said we had the obligation to stay here for one year and if we moved out, we had to pay the full 12 months in rent which is $12,000. Do we have to stay in this apartment with a changed land lady and changed condition? If we move, do we have to pay that total amount of money as it was stated in our other lease? Thank you for any help you can give in this matter.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It does not matter who the new owner is. As long as you have a fixed lease and are not in default, your lease remains valid and in effect even if the owner changes or dies. There is no law that requires a tenant to pay 12 months of rent although if you broke your lease and moved out early, you could be liable. Ex. You signed a year lease and put down a security deposit then changed your mind and decided not to rent the property. Technically you are responsible for the 12 months of rent that you agreed to pay. Now if the property was rented out to a new tenant anytime during the 12 month period, you are only responsible for the rent during the time the property was vacant. If the property could not be rented during the 12 month period despite all reasonable efforts by your landlord, only then would you be responsible to pay the entire 12 months of rent. I believe this is what your landlord was trying to convey to you.

[This message has been edited by HomeGuru (edited June 26, 2000).]

 

[Tracey]

All leases include an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. That means that L cannot do OR ALLOW any activity that disturbs your tenancy & enjoyment of the property. This includes letting teenagers carrouse until 1 a.m., renting the upstairs apt by week to any tenants who are noisy/messy, disturbing your home business, etc.

Send L a letter (certified, return receipt) detailing the exact behaviour that is disturbing your tenancy & what you want done to stop it. Be very specific. Quiet after 10 pm; no yard detritus/surfboards/bikes on the lawn where your customers will see them, etc. If L doesn't fix all problems within 30 days, you will be entitled to either break the lease & walk away with no consequences, or sue L for damages. You should make a trip to the local courthouse and ask the clerk if there are any procedures for paying rent to the court when L is in breach of the lease, until L fixes things. (T usually gets damages or a rent reduction by following this procedure.) If there are any specific steps you must take to avail yourself of this remedy, start taking them now.

If you move, L must take all reasonable steps to mitigate her damages. If she doesn't, you don't have to pay for any rent that she *could* have collected by acting diligently to re-rent. Since this is beachfront property, she should be able to re-rent the place in 4 days!


Good luck.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.