Seller made tenant sign a false tenant acknowledgement.

[Nir]

Hi Everyone,

Closing is tomorrow. The seller provided her lawyer with a false tenant acknowledgement showing there is NO last month rent deposit. (she somehow made the tenant sign that). I called the tenant and in reality the tenant did provide a last month rent and has a receipt from 1998 to prove that. Apparently, what happened is the seller manipulated the tenant into signing an acknowledgement saying she did not provide last month rent. The reason is the seller herself was not credited for that amount when she purchased the property 3 years ago but she knows now that the tenant indeed paid.

My question is, considering the above, should I as a buyer be credited for the last month rent provided by the tenant in order to protect the tenant and myself? My guess is the fact the current seller did not get the amount from the previous seller is HER problem and does NOT allow her not to credit me for the amount. Thoughts?

My lawyer suggested to transfer the amount her lawyer wants which unfortunately does NOT include crediting me for the last month rent, and deal with the amount missing later asking the seller`s lawyer something like to freeze the amount/not give that portion (last month rent) to the seller yet.

I called the tenant and asked her to fax the receipt she has to me so I can provide that to my lawyer first thing in the morning tomorrow.

Am I doing the right thing contacting the tenant before I even own the property? Is there anything else I can do or should have done in this bizarre case!?

Thanks & Regards,
Neil

 

[HeatherBrandt]

I think you`re doing the right thing, providing evidence to your lawyer, have him/her followup with seller`s lawyer. Hopefully, you`ll get some action, if not you`ll know next time to check on it sooner. There`s a form in the downloads that you can get the potential tenant to fill out to confirm rent, deposit, no side deals, etc. It was helpful when we inherited a tenant and the rental agreement was entirely verbal.

I think making contact with the tenant is being proactive. My husband did that with the very first property we bought. The tenants had given notice, they were moving out by the time we took possession, so there wasn`t any expectation that we would have any relationship. This property had a wood stove in the garage with a chimney plumbed into the roof. The seller obviously felt this was an unattached good, while we felt this was a fixture. The seller removed it rather sneakily and the tenants noticed it was gone and the gaping hole in the garage roof. They were the ones who let us know, and we had enough time for our realtor and lawyer to get onside with the issue. Our lawyer sent a letter suggesting how much the stove would be worth to us, and in the end the stove came home and was reattached before possession.

Good luck,

Heather

 

[Nir]

Thanks Heather,

A quick update on the current situation: I should not and will not get the money for the pre-paid rent. My lawyer investigated this issue further and found out that the previous owner did not get last month rent from this tenant as well. The conclusion - apparently the tenant is the one providing false information!

Was such a hassle, so confusing but at least I know my lawyer did a good job investigating that. he received a document today (following my note to him) from the other lawyer showing that the tenant mentioned the same thing - that there was no deposit provided, when the current owner purchased the property. (reminder: in the past 2 months she provided 2 different versions to different people – the one I received showed she DID provide last month rent. That`s what started the entire investigation, a huge waste of time)

Also, I learned something about the kind of tenant I have living there. An important lesson indeed.

Regards,
Neil