When the tenants couldn’t get financing, the attorney and realtor worked on relocating the tenants. In the article Selling the Estate Rental Property: The Tenants Became Proactive, the tenants effort to obtain financing failed. While it became known to the realtor that the tenants were having trouble getting a mortgage, I didn’t want to inform the attorney until it was certain that the tenants ended their effort to buy the house. Therefore, once the tenants stopped pursuing a mortgage, I informed the attorney about the tenant’s decision. Since the task of relocating the tenants became a reality, the attorney and the realtor performed the following tasks:

• The attorney drafted the Notice to Quit. The Notice to Quit is a notice given by the landlord – in this situation, the executor – to a tenant to vacate the property by a certain date. The notice, required by the state of Massachusetts, ends the tenancy on the date set in the notice. Since the tenant’s initial lease expired years ago, the tenants occupied the property under a tenancy at will agreement. Therefore, they received a thirty-day notice.

• The realtor, having been in contact with the tenants from the beginning of the process, knew the tenants were having trouble getting a mortgage. As a result, the realtor compiled a list of rental properties to show the tenants. So, when the tenants concluded their efforts, the realtor started showing rental properties to the tenants.

Relocating the Tenants

At the end of January 2013, all was quiet on the task of relocating the tenants. Therefore, out of curiosity, I decided to call the tenants. When I called, the husband answered and I anxiously asked, “How is the search for a new residence going. Since I haven’t heard from the realtor, I want to make sure you are seeing new properties.”

The husband replied, “Good. We looked at a few apartments in the area with the realtor. There was one we liked, but the realtor wanted to show us another rental home located on the street behind our current home. So, it won’t be long.”

Delighted, I said, “Great! Keep going until you find something you like. I’ll call back in a week to see how your visit went.” With that, the conversation ended with an upbeat feeling.

A week later, the realtor called to tell me that the tenants leased the house and will be moving in at the end of March. Feeling relieved, I called the tenants. The husband answered as usual and I said, “Congratulations! I heard you found a new home.”

The husband replied, “It’s not the house we wanted” – referring to the fact that they wanted to keep my Uncle’s house – “but it’s the next best thing. Anyway, the house has a big kitchen, and overall, the house is bigger, which gives us more space. In addition, when we care for our grandchildren, they can play with the same friends they’ve made over the years. So, it worked out great.”

As the conversation came to an end, I felt delighted that the tenants found a residence to their liking.

A Bittersweet Ending

With the tenants finding a new home, the worst part of selling the estate rental property was over. Relocating the tenants was an emotional, stressful undertaking for the tenants and a nerve-racking task for me. However, even though I had a lot of empathy for the tenants for disrupting their lives, it was unavoidable. Therefore, the fact that the tenants ended up in a better home was pleasing to me.

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