[burk]

Our rental lease to purchase tentant has not paid the last to months of the contract and is still in the house. The contract was up on sept.19,2008. He is not agreeable to paying up and will not give up house. Because the rent payments were stopped two months before the end of contract , is this contract voided by him.

[excon]

Hello burk:

Every contract says within itself what constitutes a breach and what does not. Apparently, not paying IS a breach, and you should sue to evict him.

excon

[ScottGem]

Have you read the contract? A properly drawn up rent to purchase contract will spell out what happens if the renter defaults.

Generally, in case of a default, the contract reverts to a rental lease and all monies previous paid are forfeit.

From there, since it is likely to be a rental lease, you have to go through a formal eviction process. You need to go to your local housing court and find out what that process is as it may vary from area to area.

Generally you serve them with a pay or vacate notice that gives them 3-10 days to pay up or vacate. If they miss that deadline, then you file for an eviction order. How quickly that will be granted depends on your courts. Once the order is granted you hire a sheriff to enforce the order.

[rockinmommy]

I'm in agreement with the previous posters.

Yes, since they missed the deadline to execute their option to purchase the house, at this point they are simply your (non-rent-paying) tenant.

Thoroughly read your lease and your state's landlord / tenant laws (see the "sticky" at the top of this forum for a link to your state's laws). You'll just need to evict them as if they were a regular tenant who hadn't paid rent.

Did they give you a down payment? Frequently, in the "tenant's" mind, once they realize they won't be able to buy the property and they know their down payment is non-refundable they decide that they're going to stop paying rent and try to get their money's worth out of that deposit. That's not how it works (according to a "typical" contract), but it's a common reaction on the part of the tenant.

[twinkiedooter]

I tend to agree with Rockin above about the tenant using the downpayment as rental fees. In their mind this would be the most logical thing to do. Start the eviction process.

[ScottGem]

If that is the intent of the buyer, you need to get them out ASAP. Again it depends on your contract, but any down payment made is forfeit and not like a security deposit.

Once you have them out, you can sue them for any unpaid rent