Washington State

We are buying a duplex and scheduled to close soon. The tenents have been served with eviction notice by the owner due to non-payment of rent (4-6 months behind). The tenents are making no move to leave and the property is scheduled to close soon. If we don't close on time, we could loose our financing / interest rate.

We plan to immediately turn the property into a single family house. Can we commence with remodling even though the tenents aren't out?

Can we turn off the power? It is in the current landlords name. Yes, the tenents owe him for 6 months of power bills too.

Can we consider these people tresspassers since they do not have a lease with us? Their previous lease with the current owner is expired.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Washington State
We are buying a duplex and scheduled to close soon. The tenents have been served with eviction notice by the owner due to non-payment of rent (4-6 months behind). The tenents are making no move to leave and the property is scheduled to close soon. If we don't close on time, we could loose our financing / interest rate.
What efforts have been made on evicting them?
We plan to immediately turn the property into a single family house. Can we commence with remodling even though the tenents aren't out?
I would think it's not a very good idea.
Can we turn off the power? It is in the current landlords name. Yes, the tenents owe him for 6 months of power bills too.
If it's soley in the landlord's name, I would think so.
Can we consider these people tresspassers since they do not have a lease with us? Their previous lease with the current owner is expired.
Why hasnn't the previous landlord gone through eviciton proceedings? Now it could take you a lot longer to get them out. I don't know about the WA laws, but I've seen evicitions here in CO take upto 4 months. All depends on how skilled the tenants/squatters are in rental law.
I suggest you get a lawyer and start there. If you get a good one and he/she knows their stuff, it could make this whole headache a lot easier to handle.

"Washington State

We are buying a duplex and scheduled to close soon."

What date, exactly?

"The tenents have been served with eviction notice by the owner due to non-payment of rent (4-6 months behind)."

TenAnts, not tenEnts.

"The tenents are making no move to leave and the property is scheduled to close soon."

The tenants being there doesn't prevent you from closing, though it does pose a practical problem.

"We plan to immediately turn the property into a single family house. Can we commence with remodling even though the tenents aren't out?"

Absolutely not.

"Can we turn off the power?"

Absolutely not.

"Can we consider these people tresspassers since they do not have a lease with us?"

You can consider them whatever you want. At this point the relevant thing is what the law considers them to be. Although in a certain sense the law might consider them to be a subcategory of trespassers, they are not going to be treated like trespassers in most respects or in the ordinary sense of the word. In other words:

1: You absolutely CANNOT try to forcibly evict them, turn off their power, turn off their water, or anything else of the sort. Doing so is (1) a crime (a felony in many states). (2) likely to get you sued.

2: The local police absolutely CANNOT, and almost certainly WILL NOT, arrest them for trespassing.



"Their previous lease with the current owner is expired."


Why hasn't he gotten a court to order eviction and had it enforced?

"Any advice would be greatly appreciated."


My best advise is: don't close on the property until the tenants move out.

The seller needs to go to his local courthouse and start a legal eviction process, then pay a sheriff to come enforce it. Once that has happened and you guys are sure that the property hasn't burned down or been destroyed by the tenants in the mean-time, then you close.

If the seller evicts them, you need to make sure you have paperwork that you are the successor in interest in the proceedings, or hold off the sale until the seller gets them out. If the tenants are evicted, in most places, the sheriff or police can be used to physically remove the tenants and have their possessions removed and placed in public storage. It may cost money for this, but if the eviction goes thru and they are not out by the time the court tells them to, the landlord should be able to go back and file for the authorities to remove them and their proeprty from the premises.

You cannot take punitive actions against the tennants yourself. You must use legal processes. That being said, to the question, "do you have grounds to evict them?" Yes - on every count you mentioned. Not paid rent. Out. No lease. Out. Even if they did have a lease - in NY anyway, you could still evict them, IF you intend to reside in the house yourself. You could not break a lease to replace with other tennants. I know - this is an old question, but those interested today - all the above hold true. The point already made is the best. The terms of the sale of the property should include a clause stating that at the time of transfer, the property is free of occupants, options, or leaseholds. That puts the responsability of the previous owner to get them out before the sale completes. To evice someone can take months. I observed a case where tennant did not pay rent for a year, and then once eviction procedings started through the local court, it took another 9 months to get them out. The bottom line is - take care of it immediately. Document everything, copiously, so you can say to the judge , "they havent paid rent for 4 months, and have known full well for the last 2 months that I am evicting them. I will be unable to recover any monies they owe - they need to leave immediatly." If you can convey that calmly, you might get them out in 2 weeks from your court date. Again, you then need a sherriff and a moving company that specializes in clearing out evictees.