I signed a lease to rent a house on the Cape for two months in July. I understand that the guy I signed the lease with has sold the property and I am not sure whether or not he disclosed my lease to the buyer. What are my rights here?

Your question is similar to a question I recently answered relative to a property that is under lease when it is sold. The answer was is that the lease is a right in the property and the buyer of the property is stuck with it. The obvious difference however is that when somebody buys a property that is subject to a lease the property is occupied and it is obvious that somebody has a claim to it. Because it is occupied the owner of the property is required to use legal process in order to evict the current occupant and in that eviction hearing a judge will decide who is entitled to the occupancy of the property. Your problem, of course, is different because you will only occupy the property for two weeks and your rights of occupancy will be subject to the owner of the property voluntarily delivering the property to you for that two-week period. You have an enforceable contract in the lease but you would have to go to court to get an injunction against the owner interfering with your right to occupy the property during those two weeks. I am sure you have better things to spend your money on. You can search online on the registry of deeds by putting in the owner's name and that may help you find out if the property has been transfered and who the new buyer is. I would recommend that you contact the new owner and send him a copy of your lease and ask for assurance that the property will be made available to you in accordance with the terms of the lease. If the owner refuses you will have the right against the new owner as well as the party you signed the lease with for your damages as a result of having to try to find another place to rent during July on the Cape which at this point is going to be difficult to do. You could then bring a small claims action against both of those parties in order to recover your damages.

 

If you have questions about this or any other legal matter, please contact Tom Bennett at (617) 531-6574 or tvb@barronstad.com.

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