Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

I just closed on selling a house. I have a right to occupy agreement through November 1 at $1000 per month. The new owner now wishes to alter the right to occupy and wants me to vacate by October 18. I do not wish to do so as I am not closing on my new home until October 29. Is the new owner within their rights to make this sort of change/demand? If not, what should my next step be? Thanks so much!

The Agreement is what the Agreement is. (I hope this is all in writing!)

The Buyer should have spoken up BEFORE the Closing.

Does the Buyer offer any incentive for you to vacate earlier ?

I'd vote for the Status Quo. The Agreement stands just as it is.

"Is the new owner within their rights to make this sort of change/demand? If not, what should my next step be? Thanks so much!"


ask yourself this...how would the new owner propose to enforce his unilateral change to the existing agreement, absent your approval?


your next step could be any of the following:


ignore the new owner's request

demand additional compensation/rent reduction in exchange for your approval of the new agreement to vacate early.

tell the new owner he is a doo doo head

spend a few hundred dollars to have an attorney send the new owner a letter

tell the new owner he is a doo doo head, in conjunction with any of the above choices

Thanks for your thoughts so far.

A little more background I suppose (though I don't think it changes anything legally). The new owners gave their notice that they would be leaving where they are renting currently a few days ago (Sept 20, even before we closed). This was likely done with information from our real estate agent (we have the same one), that I would likely close on my new house earlier than November 1 (but it turns out it isn't the case). Now the new owners must vacate their current rental by October 20. They actually broke a rent to own agreement in buying my house so the people that they broke their original agreement with are not inclined to let them stay a moment longer than they are legally bound to do so.

The bottom line is the new owners will not have a place to move into once they are out of their current rental if I don't agree to move out earlier than my right to occupy expires. I do no know why on earth they would have given their notice, even with the information that I may close earlier than November 1st.

The Buyers have their problems, and you have yours.

You solve your problems and they have to solve their own problems.

If your Agent screwed up by encouraging the Buyers to give notice pre-maturely, then that may be his/her problem . . . . but it certainly isn't yours !

The Agent will have to engage in some quick maneuvers to solve this problem for them.

The Buyers may have believed their Agent when he told them it was "safe" to do whatever they did; but his advice was ill-founded.

One of those little problems that Agents often run into when trying to be a Dual Agent.

I wonder if Dual Agency is even legal in South Carolina ?

Sounds like this agent suffers from "Insert foot in mouth, then swallow" Disease
You have proceeded based on the terms of the WRITTEN agreement.
The buyer has proceeded based on the agents "WAG" (Wild A**ed Guess) without ever consulting with you.
Looks like the agent may be storing your buyer's property and possibly paying for a hotel room for your buyers for 10 days or so.

Whatever anyone said, if it's in writing, that's what stands. I'd be of the mind, if it helps the new owner at all, to empty a room in the house and at least let them park their furniture/belongings there. They'd still have to find a place to rest their heads at night and their butts during the day (hotel? friends?) but at least they wouldn't have to go through the hassle of loading everything on a truck, put it in storage, then load it back up, and unload it again when they move into the house. I'd at least consider that considering in this day and age that you were able to secure a buyer for your home. At least, this is the 'goodness' coming out of my own mind and what I would be willing to do if I were in your position. Although you're not really in a position, the new owners are.

I had a client who was pressed for time to purchase a home because his lease was running out and the landlord would not let him rent on a month-to-month basis because that could easily have put the rental up for availability in the winter - I don't think any landlord really likes their property to be empty at the slowest time of the year. My client refused to stay with friends, and, family wasn't nearby.

I'm curious if the agent was performing dual agency, did the agent also help the original owner purchase their 'new' home? Did the agent convey that in a situation like this to add [in their own minds and living arrangements] to prepare for an additional two weeks past the 'move' date to be on the safe side? Not all closings happen when they are supposed to. If the original owner became 'stuck' should his own closing not happen on time, would't he like the consideration of at least using a room to store his own stuff in his prior home (and staying at a hotel) instead of loading up a truck, unloading a truck (for storage) and load it up again and unloading it again?

"the new owners will not have a place to move into once they are out of their current rental.."


this is why we have hotels and storage facilities, and relatives. LOL

Who would carry the insurance (risk of loss) on those belongings during this time period ?

In a word, this agent was an idiot. IMHO, he should pony up for any costs that are a direct result for the "advice" he provided.

Like VaBroker said, it's a good idea to build in a buffer, just in case. When we bought our first home, my wife and I set a closing date two full weeks before we needed to vacate our apartment. Made moving real painless. We had plenty of time.