From: "sav" 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Is the new Landlord  responsible for the terms of lease when s/he buys a leased property?
Date: 18 Jun 2006 08:29:27 -0700
   posting-account=JYXjsg0AAAApgQZhHoBDcqKP0T2HAcyc

I thought to take the advice from the members of the group on
an issue I am not quite familiar with, being a new resident in this
country (U.S.). It seems perplexing how the Landlords manipulate. The
lease of the apartment I am living in Pittsburgh, PA was
scheduled to expire on July 31, 2006. I got a letter from the owner a
month ago asking me to extend the lease if I want to continue in the
apt. I signed for the renewal of the one year lease from Aug' 2006 to
July, 2007. They signed and sent me a copy of the lease agreement.
Just a week back, I got a call from owner that they want to sell the
apartment and I would be given a notice to vacate, I countered that we
have already signed the lease and it's not possible.

A couple of days back I got the notice from the owner that the apt has
been put on sale and I would be required to show the apt to the
potential
buyers. If anyone agrees to buy, I will be given two months notice to
vacate.

I checked the lease agreement again, normally we don't care when we
sign. There is a clause on sale of property. I write that here:

a) If the Landlord sells the Property, all security deposits and any
interest due are transferred to the new Landlord. Landlord agrees to
notify the Tenant about the sale and to provide the name and address
of the new Landlord.

b) The new Landlord is responsible to Tenant for return of the
security deposit and any interest due after the sale of the property.

c) Tenant understands that the present Landlord will not have any more
responsibilites in this lease after the property is sold to the new
owner.

The clause is vague on what will happen to the term of the lease. The
owner has tried to keep all options on his side. By sending me a
notice to extend the lease and after I signed the lease, again sending
a notice that they are putting the apt on sale, they have ensured that
they keep getting the rent from me till their property is sold, after
it is sold, the terms of lease do not apply to them. I am not sure
whether it applies to new landlord, but yesterday's letter says that
they will give me two months notice to vacate after selling. It seems
they are dictating how long I have to live in that apartment.