I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that an owner of a property can kick out the current renting tenants if he/she or a family member is intending to move it. This is how people take care of rent control issues, when a tenant has been living there since the stone age. They simply move in or have a family member move in for a short period of time to legally remove the renting tenants. Good luck man.

 

^ That's what I thought as well; but they have to give notice.

They are, after all, the OWNERS of the property and can change their minds - as long as there is not a definitive clause in the agreement that states it cannot.

 

Just asked one of the guys in my firm and you are correct. However, as far as I was made aware, they do have to provide advance written notice [60 days???] before moving in. And they are still breaching/terminating a contractual agreement for which they have to compensate the renter. Therefore, there is definitely room for negotiation on fd777's part. I am not familiar about the details, but I highly doubt the owner can just show up at the door step and tell them to take an immediate hike without any consequences to them [unless that is something that was signed away in the agreement]. That is why you should always read the fine print before signing anything.

fd777: Keep us posted on what transpires please! If you do not mind, I am interested in hearing further details, in case I ever encounter something like this myself. Good luck!

 

For sure. I think we'll try negotiating and I'll call the non-profit org for advice. If the owners give us any problems, then it's off to a lawyer/mediator. But you're right, I should call a lawyer regardless.

In the mean time, I've got some house hunting to do!

 

The landlord cant kick you out like that, especially if you signed a lease.

go talk to a lawyer

 

I'd just like to re-state: our landlord has not kicked us out. They are asking us to leave, but it's not a demand. (At least not yet.) They know that they're blatantly violating the lease agreement.

We (the tenants) will agree if the compensation is right. I hate moving, but money talks Plus, they do have a family. I know that's not really relevant, but I'm willing to work with them as long as they're civil.

 

Dude this is uber simple, free month or 2's rent.

 

Ummm...no its not. There are many potential negotiation items...deposit reimbursement, overlapping rents, moving expenses, apartment finding fees, termination paperwork, dates of everything, etc etc etc...that I would personally discuss with the landlord.

Some examples...I imagine that initial deposit on a house 4 people live in must be substantial [plus 1st months rent]; he would have to come up with a new deposit for a new place...Now, is it possible to get his current deposit back before moving out so he not in a financial hole for couple months?

To what extent should the landlord pay moving expenses? I am certain he is not going to want write a blank check up front [because I would just order a limo for myself if he did], so he has to again possible front all the costs and wait for reimbursement.

Landlords always check your credit history, for which you must pay around $30-40 each time you submit an application. If he looks at 10 places, that's potential $300-400 that I would want back for my unexpected trouble. Same would go for fuel and/or public transportation costs to visit potential properties as well as any unplanned time off he might have to request to do so.

Personally, this would be a HUGE inconvenience since I would have to all of the sudden free up several thousands of dollars for such a change to occur [regardless if I get it back in a month or two]...This would mean liquidating some investments and missing out on interest and potential investment opportunities. I would expect some compensation for that as well.

Long story short, termination of contracts is not a light matter and he should expect to be fairly compensated for his trouble.

 

Double post...

 

I think 2 months rent free would be pretty fair, I mean what do you expect, the guy to pay for another 12 months of his living?

 

Did I ever imply anything like that? My expectations would be for the landlord to pick up the complete cost [explicit and implicit] of finding a new place due to the fact that he was not expecting to have such expenses for the next 12 months. That was the only focus of my detail; to point out the little things to consider as they can quickly add up. Those costs are objective, logical and legally justifiable in such circumstance.

What would be the legal or objective basis for asking couple months of free rent? That is a very subjective topic and will be a difficult to negotiate because it does not have any direct relation to the termination of the rental agreement.

Do not get me wrong, would I like to see him get 2 months of free rent? Bleep yeah! However, that is a secondary aspect of this situation. If you bring it up as a primary demand in negotiations, you will be perceived as someone out to take advantage of the situation out right, which will make it hard to have a civil resolution.

I apologize for going into all the detail, but dealing with contracts and negotiation is part of my daily job. It is VERY EASY to screw them up and VERY time consuming and expensive to fix them. I am merely trying to point out all the eloquent details one better consider for a smooth and easy process.

 

LxJLthr, I thought I was thorough with money, but your post hit some important factors I haven't considered. I appreciate your input, this is exactly why I posted this thread.

I hope someone can learn from this! This thread has lots of good info to consider if you're moving.

Well, here's a draft:
Rental Overlap
$, 1 month current rent.

Moving Expenses
$, Will get quote from movers soon.
Each roommate may move at a different time. We have different holiday plans, so moving on the same day is unlikely.

Work
$20-$50 x 4 per visit
We need to make up hours.
It doesn't look good when asking the manager to leave every few days.
Even worse, may need to take a vacation.

Application fees (credit report)
$30-$40 per visit (x4 if each person needs one)

Transportation
$5 x 4 per visit
Includes gas, maintenance of car, depreciation from miles.

Time Spent
$, undecided
Potential house visits.
Emails, phone calls, contracts, meetings
Moving
Inconvenience of time lost during the holiday season.

Secondary Ripples
$, undecided
Each credit check dings our score - not good if you need a home/car loan soon.
Not having money to invest - at minimum we lose savings account interest rates.

General Reference
Need to verify, but my company gave me $7000 for moving expenses. This was for a 50 mile move and one person.
I don't expect my landlord to give us this much, but now 2-3 months compensation for four people doesn't sound so bad.

visit - trip to potential new rental home/apartment
x 4 - multiply by 4 (four roommates)

 

Update: We asked for 2.5-3 months rent (keep in mind this is for 4 people). They turned us down, not surprisingly and offered us 1 month rent.
We're willing to settle for 2 months and a specific move-out date. I'll keep you guys updated.

We know the asking amount was high, I hope this didn't backfire in the following sense:
Of course, we supported our offer with the breakdown posted above.


(When I say "we" - it's the collective opinion. Not necessarily an individual's opinion.)

 

Yeah, not surprised about the free rent issue. However, at least it appears they are willing to negotiate, which is always good. Overall you guys are probably doing it right...start high and end up somewhere in the comfortable middle...Good luck!

 

Situation became drastically worse.

We're still conjuring up a counter offer, we're waiting on a detailed moving quote.
The movers came on Dec 2, and said they provide the quote within 24 hours.
More than 24 hours has passed and they have not contacted me back. (I did email and call them today.)

The landlord is demanding that we get this quote today.

The landlord gave us a 30 days notice on Nov 29. We told them that they have no basis to do this to which they did not respond.
Today, reminded us of the 30 days notice and ask us to leave by the end of December.

I will be meeting with her later today.

May need to find a lawyer now...