Tenants Querry

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sparticus

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Hello ,

I have a querry regarding renting and the rights of a tenant. What happens if the home you stayed in has been sold and the new owners want to lease it but they not approached you ? In this case the tenant was told the new owners are moving in but found out later that they actually renting out the place , also there was no existing lease agreement between the old owner and tenant, The old owner now reckons the tenant has to move as it was part of the agreement when he sold the house and the new owner is complaining to the lawyers. I am not sure why the new owner is complaining cos the tenant never said he wont move , he actually only found out today that the house will be leased , he previously thought that the owners are moving in.

Ok , I said a lot , hope you understand lol
 
Existing lease agreements have to be fulfilled afaik but in your case no such agreement exists, which is rather silly. I don't think the tenant has any rights at all...
 
Without a lease you have no say

just out of curiosity if there was a lease wouldnt it be null and void since there is new ownership ?
 
RiaX said:
Without a lease you have no say

just out of curiosity if there was a lease wouldnt it be null and void since there is new ownership ?
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No, existing lease/agreement has to be honored by the new owner.
 
The agreement may still be enforceable even though only verbal, so long as previous landlord (with whom you originally contracted with) can verbally verify it. The reason verbal agreements aren't very helpful is because either party can deny/ refute claims/ change minds. But so long as he / she is a nice guy, they'd be willing to ratify the agreement.

Trying to remember some 1st/ second year commercial law principles... if the tenant currently occupies the house, he has a right by virtue of being currently in possession or occupation. There's a name for it but not sure...
 
Diego Tristan said:
Trying to remember some 1st/ second year commercial law principles... if the tenant currently occupies the house, he has a right by virtue of being currently in possession or occupation. There's a name for it but not sure...
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Yea, first year Business Law :)

It's a South African law principle known as 'Huur Gaat Voor Koop', ie. Hire/Leasing (agreements) take preference over sale (agreements).
 
The huur gaat voor koop doctrine.

[T]he effect of “huur gaat voor koop” is that the Purchaser is bound to the lease agreement and the Lessee is entitled to remain in occupation in accordance with the terms thereof. The Purchaser cannot plead ignorance and the right of the Lessee is stronger than the right of ownership of the Purchaser regardless of whether the Purchaser had notice of the existence or the terms of the lease.

From www.vvd.co.za/index.php?option=com_quickfaq&view=items&cid=9%3Aproperty-transactions&id=132%3Awhat-does-huur-gaat-voor-koop-mean-&Itemid=118
 
sparticus said:
Hello ,

I have a querry regarding renting and the rights of a tenant. What happens if the home you stayed in has been sold and the new owners want to lease it but they not approached you ? In this case the tenant was told the new owners are moving in but found out later that they actually renting out the place , also there was no existing lease agreement between the old owner and tenant, The old owner now reckons the tenant has to move as it was part of the agreement when he sold the house and the new owner is complaining to the lawyers. I am not sure why the new owner is complaining cos the tenant never said he wont move , he actually only found out today that the house will be leased , he previously thought that the owners are moving in.

Ok , I said a lot , hope you understand lol
Click to expand...

Let me explain the rights of the seller and buyer in this situation. I'm talking from experience as a buyer who bought a house only to find out it had a tenant in it.

We have no rights, none, nada, dev/null. The tenant has all the rights and your friend should show the middle finger. What is happening is that depending on the Offer To Purchase, the seller might have to pay the buyer occupancy rent till your friend moves out.

And here is the best part, it will take a court order to evict your friend and he might even get a settlement all at the expense of the seller. This is what happened in my case and the tenant had not paid rent for 6 months as well.

I was very lucky in my case in that the seller got this all done the day before I got the keys to the house. So while the law on evictions might seem unfair, here is a perfect example why we have the law.
 
iacvlvs said:
The huur gaat voor koop doctrine.

[T]he effect of “huur gaat voor koop” is that the Purchaser is bound to the lease agreement and the Lessee is entitled to remain in occupation in accordance with the terms thereof. The Purchaser cannot plead ignorance and the right of the Lessee is stronger than the right of ownership of the Purchaser regardless of whether the Purchaser had notice of the existence or the terms of the lease.

From www.vvd.co.za/index.php?option=com_quickfaq&view=items&cid=9%3Aproperty-transactions&id=132%3Awhat-does-huur-gaat-voor-koop-mean-&Itemid=118
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+1

I can confirm this from a reliable legal source (a magistrate that has made many eviction rulings and most are in favour of the tenant).
 
Tell him to tell the owner to get him a place to stay or else he won't move.

This is South Africa baba, the tenant has rights baba! :D

It sounds funny, but it's true. He can refuse to move and make the owner jump through hoops to get an eviction order.
 
don't get snotty about it. it's not the new owners fault, the previous owner should have notified the tenants that he was selling. just find a new place to rent and move out. keep the peace with the new owner and be the bigger person.
 
Celine said:
don't get snotty about it. it's not the new owners fault, the previous owner should have notified the tenants that he was selling. just find a new place to rent and move out. keep the peace with the new owner and be the bigger person.
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There is no new owner...

edit: damn, seems I misread. Sorry
 
Last edited:
Celine said:
don't get snotty about it. it's not the new owners fault, the previous owner should have notified the tenants that he was selling. just find a new place to rent and move out. keep the peace with the new owner and be the bigger person.
Click to expand...

Why not?

He currently has a place to stay, he has rights... the new owner must suck it up and deal with it.

**EDIT**, if anything the new owner needs to play nice to get him to move out.
 
Last edited:
ToxicBunny said:
Why not?

He currently has a place to stay, he has rights... the new owner must suck it up and deal with it.

**EDIT**, if anything the new owner needs to play nice to get him to move out.
Click to expand...


you wouldn't be saying that if you were the new owner now would you.
 
Celine said:
you wouldn't be saying that if you were the new owner now would you.
Click to expand...

As the new owner I would've expected him to have asked at least a few basic questions before buying the place. A mere site visit or even an inspection would've raised the question of "Who is currently staying here?" etc etc.
 
Celine said:
you wouldn't be saying that if you were the new owner now would you.
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As a prospective new owner, I would have asked the question up front before signing any papers.. I would not be in the dark about something as important as this.
 
Celine said:
don't get snotty about it. it's not the new owners fault, the previous owner should have notified the tenants that he was selling. just find a new place to rent and move out. keep the peace with the new owner and be the bigger person.
Click to expand...

Must admit I agree with you , in fact so does the Tenant. He does not want to be the one to make life difficult for everyone , the problem is that he cannot find place for his family in the same cost bracket and as he is self employed so the few places he found he was not the first choice.
 
Celine said:
don't get snotty about it. it's not the new owners fault, the previous owner should have notified the tenants that he was selling. just find a new place to rent and move out. keep the peace with the new owner and be the bigger person.
Click to expand...

Also its not going to make much difference for the new owner as he plans to rent out the place in any case.
 
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