My sons landlord is getting a divorce and told my son he needs his house back thus breaking a 3 yr lease. What rights does he have? Can he have the landlord pay him x amt because now he will have all the costs of moving and getting another place to live.

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Originally Posted by Nannie812

My sons landlord is getting a divorce and told my son he needs his house back thus breaking a 3 yr lease. What rights does he have? Can he have the landlord pay him x amt because now he will have all the costs of moving and getting another place to live.

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You need to be more specific... who signs a 3 year lease? What landlord gives a 3 year lease on non-commercial property? I've never heard of a 3 year lease on a residence. Or did he lease if for the first year and just lived there for another 2 so far. What is the end date of the current lease... WHERE is this lease at... (as in country and state/province)

If he is there month to month the landlord only has to give him 30 days notice and that's it.

Indiana, USA. And yes, it's a 3 yr lease. I believe it's a contract as lease to own.

Oh, and just moved in 3 months ago.

Ok... 3 months into a new lease... that does shed light into a lot of things... at only three months... you still have to view this as a rental... and as a rental as long as you keep up your end of the lease, the owner has to keep up their end.

He can't simply make you leave (unless you do something to be in breach of lease). Then they could file for eviction. I assume that's NOT the case and won't be.

The only way to break it is through mutual agreement... and that would generally envolve financial rewards being offered by the party wishing to break it... enough to satisfy the other party to agree. Unless there is an agreement... the contract remains valid, and enforcible.

I would take and read that lease over very well, and make sure there isn't any clauses in it that allows them to terminate it. There probibly isn't any. But a contract is bound by the terms written in it.

It might even be worth it to pay a consultation fee for a real estate attorney to review and explain it to you in laymans terms.

A lease to own in my area is NOT the same as a "straight" lease.

An Attorney should have prepared/reviewed the contract on your son's behalf. That's the person to ask about the various relief clauses.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

A lease to own in my area is NOT the same as a "straight" lease. ...

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Maybe not the same, but is it different regarding the LL's ability to break it simply because he wants to? I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

... An Attorney should have prepared/reviewed the contract on your son's behalf. That's the person to ask about the various relief clauses.

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Most usually, if an attorney prepares a residential lease, it's for a landlord, I expect.

But I beg to differ regarding whether the attorney who prepared it is the best person to ask. Someone who wrote a document will tend to assume that what he or she meant to say was actually said. It's a quirk of the human mind. I would suggest that someone with a fresh perspective would be the better person to ask.

It's a lease to own - I am suggesting that the son was smart enough to have his own Attorney review the document(s), same as an outright purchase.

I thought the ability to walk away from a lease to own was different from walking away from a "straight" lease.

A 3-year lease to own? Either hefty payments, a balloon, a downpayment, something - ?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

... I thought the ability to walk away from a lease to own was different from walking away from a "straight" lease.
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Maybe if the tenant/ purchaser wants to walk away. But I don't expect a landlord's ability to "walk away" would be any different.

My intent when mentioning to talk to an attorney to review the lease is for the tenent to find their own... not the same one that drafted it originally. Someone that is truly independent.

A lease to own is still a lease, a "contract for deed" is another issue and is close to a lease to own.

In some leases, there is a clause ( so they need to read it and have their attorney look over) if the owner needs or wants to move back in, that is a reason to break the lease.

The next issue is , who is the owner, is both husband and wife equal owners and the landlord, did both agree to evict, since both would be liable for damages ?

Who is going to even be the owner of the property though the divorce ?

More questions than answers at this point.

In most leases with the exception that some allow the owner to move back, leases can not be broken, and in a rent to own, seldom is the clause to allow owner to move back in included or enforceable since there is normally a percentage of the rent going toward payment. Most rent to own, the rent is higher than normal rent.

So assuming you have an attorney look at the lease and it can not be broken, just refuse to move or ask for perhaps a sum equal to about 6 months rent, all of your down payment back and all of your moving costs to agree to move. ** and have it paid or put into escrow with your attorney prior to moving.

Thank you for all the suggestions. He will be getting a consultation set up tmw. He also has been paying extra each month to serve as money down on the purchase. Personally I think he deserves 3 months rent plus the extra money he's pd each month if he decides to move, possibly even moving costs. Landlord told him he had 30 days and didn't want this to be a problem, I guess he thought the 24 yr old is dumb. Wrong.

First ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area. Second,he needs to know EXACTLY what the contract states. Some areas do allow a landlord to break a lease if he needs the property for personal use.

So the first thing he needs to know is whether the landlord can break the contract under these or any other conditions. If the law says no, your son is in the driver's seat as far as negotiating compensation.