I found out from the first broker here in Florida handling the property that owner hasn’t paid mortgage since Oct. 08, among many other shady things. The manager (friend of owner) of the property is who introduced us to the property/signed/witnessed the lease. Since moving in we loved the place however we never received a gate code nor did we receive pool passes and were given excuses. Come to find out the HOA, according to the broker, is suing him for back payments…the owner claims to have less than $50 in bank account in the notes obtained by the broker from the lender???And the owner is back and forth out of the country and the manager up and left on contract work in another state.
My gf and I are full time professionals/students and do not have the time to simply up and move out on a moment’s notice. The manager contacted me in April, not even 6 weeks after moving in mind you, stating she was out of town and needed me to fax a copy of the lease to the owner b/c he was away and needed it for accounting purposes. They didn’t have the balls to tell me then in April that I had in fact faxed the lease to the broker who initially told me all these facts in order to start the selling process. We work and go to school and do not have the time to move until August. We Pre-paid 5 months’ rent upfront and paid a security deposit for the last month’s rent in order to receive a “free” month.
Basically I see it as the owner has my money or spent my money, hasn’t made a mortgage payment, is in trouble with HOA and is acting as if I should cooperate completely to sell the property…strangers in my house, constantly keeping the place up 100%, making arrangements for our dog to be elsewhere during showings, and not knowing what the future holds.
What burns me up the most is that I feel the owner and manager knew their intentions from the beginning and should have said they wish to go on a month to month basis due to the fact that the owner may sell the property at any time…at which point I would have said no thank you and walked away.
I signed a year lease, negotiating 5 months’ rent + security deposit upfront with monthly rent payments to begin in August. If the place sells, I don’t want to pay for moving expenses…I’ve only been here 2 months. I don’t want to sign another year lease from the date of sale here or elsewhere…it will keep me here longer than expected. I don’t want to sign a six month lease elsewhere b/c it cost more monthly.
The broker I originally spoke with stated he is unhappy with all the facts that he has in front of him and does not wish to do business with the owner. Broker stated he will only do business with the owner after he has a signed paper stating that I am happy with an agreement b/w the owner and I. The broker then stated the owner signed a contract with the broker’s agency and cannot do anything with the property for a year???(Is that true?)
I was just contacted yesterday by another broker from another agency wishing to put a lockbox on my door, take pictures and schedule showing dates…haven’t called back yet…don’t know what to say.
I have contacted and am waiting to hear from an attorney but I don’t think I could afford nor have the time for that and is it really worth it? I would love to have some leverage so when I am ready to leave I can negotiate financially, being compensated for the severe inconvenience/moving expenses and receive our deposit back without thinking this guy would try and take me to court for breaking a lease….OR do I have nothing to worry about in the state of Florida and the new owner HAS to uphold the lease OR if the property goes into foreclosure WILL the bank uphold the lease? I don’t want to start paying this grease ball monthly rent in August if it’s going directly into his pocket and has been a pain since day 1.
-Confused and Frustrated
Quick House Sale
