this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
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My landlord assured me I'd be able to rent this place for years.
A few days ago he tells me he's selling it, and that I need to move by June 1st, when my lease is until September.
I could fight it, but for what? A few extra months? No point in that headache.
I was hoping to rent a few years till I could buy it, as it is in my home town and near both work and family.
With the crazy rent prices today I'm going to have to move over an hour further just to find a smaller place at similar price.
This is a situation where the landlord doesn't want you to know it, but the power is in *your *hands. Legally, your lease runs until September no matter who owns the building, but the landlord can get a better price for an unencumbered property, so you can ask (basically) "what's it worth to you for me to be out before my lease is up?" and negotiate something that will offset at least some of the pain of having to find a new place at a higher cost.
Yeah, same thing happened to us. Landlord said he had at least 5 years. After 2 he starts grumbling that our rent is too low but he can't increase it to the level he wants to (BC rent control). We say, oh that's too bad.
After 3 years he decides he's done being a landlord and wants to sell the apartment and tells us he's going to kick us out and sell the place. We fight. BC has a policy that the landlord must actually live in the unit for at least 6 months in order to evict a current tenant and he's shown us he doesn't intend to do so.
There is more fighting, he finally consults a lawyer (he didn't seem to be aware of the law). He finally understands what he must do to evict us and we started losing ground. End of story we negotiated him for extra money, getting evicted on the same date and decided it was better than walking away empty handed.
The lease goes with the property, there's no reason for you to leave, unless the new owner is planning on occupying the property. You could ruin the deal if he tries to evict, especially since you have a lease until September. I would ask him to pay you to cover the costs of moving and securing new housing. If he doesn't, then he can wait until September/October.
Your landlord is an asshole, but the bigger problem is your laws. In the Netherlands for example if your landlord doesn't give you a very specific short term contract (where it's very clear it's short term renting) the landlord can't kick you out as long as you pay the rent (and even if you stop paying it takes months before a judge kicks you out).
My friend rented this place that the owner just couldn't sell during the financial crisis. A decade later housing prices where high again. The landlord really wanted him gone but had zero legal ground to do so. So when my friend told him he was thinking of moving the landlord offered all sort of help to make him go (like paying for a moving company etc).
Laws is where the change will come from.
You're not wrong, but the fact is that it's actually really hard for tenants to even enforce existing laws, and shitty landlords know it. You need to pay to file your lawsuit, you need to know the law down pat, you really need a lawyer (that you often can't afford because they're all on retainer for the big landlords), and even if you ask the local Department of Health and Human Services for assistance or whatever, you'll be on a waiting list for MONTHS because there's probably also a hundred and a half other people who are trying to do the same thing against their shitty landlord. The people that this system benefits know how much of a pain it is, know how long you'll realistically take to get anything rolling, and know that if they give you a short enough timespan, you're going to shrug and say "well OK then" more often than not.
I guess that's the difference, if a landlord wants to kick you out here, they have to try to physically force you and you just call the police.
If a landlord would go into your house and remove your stuff you would immediately call the police. A landlord just can't do that here and would be treated like a burglar would (by the police).
This is why and how assholes steal security deposits. "Oh you're leaving the state and would have to travel back to participate in small claims court? Get fucked."
The laws are bad enough but it’s the enforcement that’s the real problem.
My brother was on the opposite side of this where a tenant refused to pay rent and refused to leave. However the only avenue for enforcement is a lawsuit or several. Not only are you out legal costs, it it can be dragged out months. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the right or have the law on your side, if you can’t afford your rights. He found it much faster and cheaper to “bribe” them to leave, “I’ll give you $500 to move out before the end of the month”. You do have to swallow your pride and any righteousness, though
I’d feel the same in this story: sure I have a contract, but is it worth my time, costs, and hassle to stand on my rights? Who needs that stress? However, I also agree with those who suggest bargaining with the landlord. They likely know they can’t win and would rather not pay their lawyers to drag it out, nor risk their sale, so there’s a good chance you could get moving costs or something from them
Make them pay you to leave early. Cash for keys. It's probably worth a couple thousand depending on the price they're getting. "Hey, we have a signed lease, so it is mine until September. But I'll let you pay me to leave early."
This is why you make a written contract before moving somewhere. If you don't have it in writing, you're shit out of luck.
Even with a written contract, it's still a question of whether you want to fight it, which is often more hassle than it's worth.