Rental Laws

[nitram]

My wife and I have just purchased a shophouse that my wife wants to open a business. After we have finalised everything concerning the purchase of the unit, we have now found out that a tenant is renting the place for storage.

He had a 3 year lease (not registered), with the previous owner, of which 1.5 years are left to run.

My question is, is the rental contract still valid with a new owner. If not, what notice can I inform this "tenant" to vacate?

[Crossy]

I am no expert!

But IMHO I think you will find that the lease is binding as he was a sitting tenant. Assuming this is the case you need to stay within the terms of his lease. There should be a notice period detailed in the lease.

A few things to ponder:-

Is this person paying rent to you now, why not? Did you not notice things being stored?

It's probably best that you negotiate with the tenant, maybe a small 'sweetener' would help. Unless he has broken the terms of his lease you 'aint gonna get him evicted, after all, it's you who didn't do due diligence and discover his presence

[midas]

I am no expert!

But IMHO I think you will find that the lease is binding as he was a sitting tenant. Assuming this is the case you need to stay within the terms of his lease. There should be a notice period detailed in the lease.

A few things to ponder:-

Is this person paying rent to you now, why not? Did you not notice things being stored?

It's probably best that you negotiate with the tenant, maybe a small 'sweetener' would help. Unless he has broken the terms of his lease you 'aint gonna get him evicted, after all, it's you who didn't do due diligence and discover his presence

I think Crossy has raised some interesting questions...........the other thing that came to my mind was

did you get any legal advice or assistance during the purchase process ? If you did,

you could put the onus onto your legal adviser to help sort about your problem.

[nitram]

Sorry, I didn't tell the whole story..... but here goes.

The shophouse in question did have a tenant but he closed up the shop and put a "moved" sign on the window, and he moved to new premises. I inquired from the owner "what is happening with this shop" and he told me it was for sale. There was stuff left behind, but was informed by the owner that the tenant had moved and was only awaiting a call to remove the rest of his stuff.

I bought the shophouse and then rang him to ask for the removal of his stuff. He then presented me with his contract, saying that he was going to use the shophouse for storage.

I rang the "Land Dept" and they informed me that if it was not noted on the chanote, then it was not a registered lease.

So, I have the chanote with no notation.

Surely, although I do feel sorry for the previous tenant, if its not a registered lease, how was I to know that this "lease" was still active.

Since this contract is with a previous owner, therefore I would assume that I am not bound by the legality of it.

Thats why I thought I would leave it to the people of the forum. But after reading the 2 replies to date, I think I better see a lawyer. Unless someone else has some input.

Thanks

[Cyberstar]

What's the rent? - Let's say it's at a reasonable level for a shophouse - then it would be a high price to pay just for some storage space and the guy probably would know how to get a cheaper storage-space... Have you pondered whether he's merely fishing for some "compensation"? ... (which might be negotiable and cheaper than hiring a lawyer).