tenant disagreement - Landlord Forum thread

tenant disagreement by Anonymous on July 3, 2012 @19:57

I am trying to sell my rental property in Illinois. I live in Pennsylvania, and my realtor is handling the details of showings, the sale, etc. My renters refuse to have a lock box on the house and refuse to leave the property for showings, making it detrimental to any potential sales. I have asked them several times to be cooperative but they refuse. Do I have any options?

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Re: tenant disagreement by Jake on July 3, 2012 @20:16	[ Reply ]

If your lease does not have a provision for showing it will not happen without the tenant's permission. Even with a lease clause it would be just about impossible to enforce it. You are selling the place out from under them. What do they have to lose? And, most definitely they are not going to vacate for a showing or allow your agent free unristricted access. The whole idea of your agent coming and going with strangers in the tenant's absence is just not smart for the agent or the tenants.

Re: tenant disagreement

Re: tenant disagreement by Micah on July 3, 2012 @20:21	[ Reply ]

Selling an empty property is usually much easier and faster.

Re: tenant disagreement by JD-NY on July 3, 2012 @20:32	[ Reply ]

Under no circumstance does the tenant have to leave during showings. Why would they. They paid to rent the house for the entire month? Meaning they have the right to reside there the entire month, so they do not have to leave. The lockbox you are probably wrong about too, but that is more of a grey area. It's best you try to come to some amicable agreement because you are in the wrong on this one. Perhaps give them movie tickets during showings or something. I'm just thinking out loud on that one.

Re: tenant disagreement by Mark on July 3, 2012 @20:36	[ Reply ]

According to The Landlord’s Legal Guide in Illinois , "Under Illinois common law, the landlord does not have the right to enter a rental unit during the term of the tenancy. Every lease must include a clause that reserves the right for the landlord to enter the rental premises under various circumstances. This clause will list the reasons that a landlord may enter, such as to make repairs, to inspect the premises, to show prospective tenants or buyers, and in an emergency."

Re: tenant disagreement

Re: tenant disagreement by Patse (IL) on July 3, 2012 @22:08	[ Reply ]

I had a similar roblem in Michigan (I am in Chicago) I offered the Ts a month rental abatement (lawyer drew up docs) and $1500 in moving fees they jumped at it and found place in two weeks point is: you CANNOT make IL Ts give access to property if they don't want to.

Re: tenant disagreement by NY-LL on July 4, 2012 @05:45	[ Reply ]

The tenant is right to deny access under the circumstances described. The landlords wants to accept rental payments while at the same time deny the tenant full use of the property to accommodate the landlord’s needs to sell the property long distance. As others have stated the real estate brokerage should make appointments with the tenant (lockbox unnecessary), and the tenant should be allowed to be present during the showings to protect their own interests. In addition, most property owners should require that the prospective buyer be mortgage pre-approved for purchase in order to view an occupied premise. This limits the number of unqualified (or only mortgage pre-qualified) interested purchasers viewing the premises without the ability to confirm purchase and minimizes the unscrupulous criminals posing as potential purchasers.

Re: tenant disagreement by Katiekate (New York) on July 4, 2012 @06:58	[ Reply ]

I just sold a property with the tenants still there. This is the deal I set up. The listing agent (the realtor I hired) was the only person with a key (no lock box). I took the realtor to the tenants and introduced them so they knew who was going to be there to show the place. Every time the place was to be shown the tenants received a 24 hour advance notice of entry. My agent had to be present each and every time. This was not an issue. My realtor wasn't happy about how I insisted he handle it, but he had to admit it was the easiest and smoothest process he had ever been involved with and would recommend it to others who sell rental properties.