Legal tip 401. Legals for rentals VII. The sale of a rented house
Thursday, November 25, 2010 @ 8:27 AM
Sale of a rented house. Pre-emption and buyout rights
If the owner of a rented house wants to sell it he must offer the sale to the tenant first, indicating to him the price and the rest of the sale conditions.
The tenant has a preferent buying right over the house: pre-emption, and will have 30 days to opt for the purchase.
If the owner doesn’t make the offering to the tenant and sell the house on his own at a price lower to the communicated one, or break any of the requirements, the tenant can challenge the sale and buy the house under the same conditions this was sold to the third party. This is called buyout right and can be practised by the tenant in 30 days time from he receives the notification of the sale of the house.
The agreement by which a tenant renounces the rights of pre-emption and buyout will be valid if the contract has been signed for a renting period over five years.
The tenant will not have the pre-emption and buyout rights if the rented house is sold together with the rest of houses/ premises owned by the landlord belonging to a same estate or if the common owners of a estate sell to the same buyer all the apartments and premises belonging to that estate.
The buyer of a rented house acquires the same rights and obligations of the seller, therefore he is obliged to respect the conditions of the contract till it reaches 5 years of rental period. Cancellation can be performed after this period.
Mojacar Pueblo by Shehani at Flickr.com