I am selling my rental unit and closing in the next month, can I evict the current tenants because the buyer does not want them there?
If the current tenants are on a written lease that expires sometime after the sale/transfer of property, the new owner has to honor the lease. If the lease happens to coincidentally terminate near the time of the closing, you may have to give 30 days written notice of your decision to not renew the lease. Read your lease to determine how much written notice of non-renewal is required.
For example, let’s say your closing date is June 1 but the written lease expires on November 30. The buyer/new owner will have to take the property with the tenants and honor the terms of the written lease. The tenants are legally within their rights to stay until November 30. The new owner will most likely have to give written notice of non-renewal thirty days prior to the expiration of the lease.
As long as proper notice of non-renewal of lease is given, the new owner/landlord can terminate the lease at that time and does not have to provide any reason for doing so. Tenants often assume that because they have lived at the rental unit for a substantial period of time, the landlord cannot terminate the lease without just cause. This is wrong. Ohio law only requires the landlord to honor the terms of the lease. If the lease has expired and the landlord has given proper notice of non-renewal, no other reason needs to be provided.
If the tenants are on a month to month lease, read my article on how to terminate a month to month tenancy. Basically, the seller/current owner will have to give 30 days written notice prior to the next rental payment due date.
So if the landlord provides notice of termination of a month to month tenancy on or before May 1, for example, the tenant will have until May 31 to vacate. If the landlord provides notice on May 1 or later, the tenant will have until June 30 to vacate. So the first of the month is the crucial date. Give notice before the first and the tenant has until the end of the month to leave. Give notice after the first and the tenant has until the end of the following month to vacate.
Landlords often (wrongly) just give thirty days to vacate from the date of the notice. For example, landlord gives notice on June 15 that landlord wants the tenant out on July 15. Legally, the tenant would have until July 31.
Some leases may have a clause allowing the landlord to terminate the lease upon sale of the rental unit although I have never seen one. As a tenant, you may want to review your lease to see if such a provision exists. Any such provision would have to give the tenant at least 30 days to vacate after the first of the month.
Leases sometimes have an early termination provision for the tenant. Those provisions generally read that the tenant may terminate the lease prior to its normal expiration if the tenant pays a substantial amount in termination fees. The tenant is free to negotiate with the landlord to pay the tenant an early termination fee if the landlord wants the tenant to vacate prior to the normal expiration date of the lease (provided there is nothing to the contrary in the lease).
In Ohio, the buyer of a rental property has to honor the written lease between the previous owner/landlord and the tenant. Even if no lease exists (e.g., verbal lease), Ohio law presumes the tenant is on a month to month tenancy. In that case, the new owner must give proper notice to end that month to month tenancy. Read the lease to determine if any provisions exist that would change the landlords obligations under Ohio law.