The Tenant Came With the Building You Bought

The Closing Was Friday. The Tenant Is Still There.

I am a Chicago real estate attorney. I close deals for investors, and I file 150+ evictions a year. Every month I get the same call. A buyer closed on a two-flat for a flip, or a BRRRR, or a straight rental hold. One unit came occupied. The seller handed over keys and a garage remote. No lease. No rent ledger. No deposit accounting. The tenant is still in the unit, and the buyer wants to know what happens next.

Here is the short version. That tenant is now your tenant. The deal the seller made travels with the building, and so does every gap in the seller's paperwork. This page walks through what you actually bought, the paper to demand before closing, the first 30 days after closing, and the three clean ways to get the unit back. If your deal already closed and the paperwork is a mess, my no-lease eviction guide is the companion to this page. Read them together.

What You Actually Bought

You bought the building subject to the existing tenancies. That is standard Illinois doctrine, and it surprises buyers every week. A sale does not cancel a lease. The tenant does not have to move, reapply, or sign anything new. You step into the seller's shoes as landlord. The rent amount, the lease term, and the tenant's rights all carry over to you exactly as they stood at closing.

If there is a written lease, its terms bind you until it ends. If there is no written lease, Illinois still sees a tenancy. An occupant who pays rent by the month holds an oral month-to-month tenancy, and the law implies the deal nobody wrote down. I cover that whole framework, including the notices and the court forms, in my guide to evicting a tenant without a lease.

Two rules frame everything that follows. First, possession only comes back through the eviction courts under Article IX of the Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/9-101 et seq. Changing the locks on an inherited tenant is an illegal lockout, no matter how informal the seller's arrangement was. Second, an inherited month-to-month tenancy is also the easiest tenancy in Illinois to end. You serve the right notice, wait out a short clock, and file. No breach required.

Before Closing: The Paper You Must Demand

This is the cheap part. Before closing, the seller wants your money and answers your emails. After closing, the seller is gone. Here is the package I demand for every occupied unit, written into the contract when I can get it there.

• Every lease, amendment, and renewal. Signed copies, not "I think it renewed." If the seller says there is no written lease, get that in writing too. It decides which box you check on the court affidavit later.
• The full rent ledger. Amount, due date, payment method, and paid-through date for each tenant. The ledger is your proof of the rent amount if the tenancy ever lands in court.
• Deposit accounting. How much, when received, where held, and what interest has been paid. Then take the deposits at closing, as a credit or a transfer, with the accounting attached. The penalties for a mishandled deposit run to twice the deposit plus attorney fees, and I walk through that machinery in my security deposit guide. I treat every inherited deposit as money I will owe back, because it is. Liability for the security deposit absolutely follows the buyer. If the seller keeps the deposits and disappears, the tenants' claims land on you. So demand the deposits, with the accounting and any accrued interest, as a closing credit, and paper the transfer.
• A seller statement on each tenancy. I ask the seller to certify, in writing, the rent, the term, the paid-through date, the deposit, and any side deals: reduced rent for mowing, a promised parking spot, a verbal month of free rent. Call it an estoppel package. It is practice, not a statutory form, and it is the single best defense against the tenant's version of the deal.
• Keys, codes, and contact information. Plus any open maintenance requests. An inherited repair complaint becomes your repair complaint at closing.

One scope note. This page covers conventional sales. Foreclosure and judicial sale purchases follow different rules and deserve their own guide, which is coming.

After Closing: The First 30 Days

Now the tenant is yours. The first month sets the tone for everything after it. Here is the sequence I give investor clients.

1. Introduce yourself in writing. A one-page letter. Your name or your LLC, the address for notices, and the date you took over. Keep it neutral. This letter is also the first exhibit in any future case, so write it like a judge will read it.
2. Say where the rent goes now. Give exact payment instructions and a due date. Then keep records from day one. Bank deposits, Zelle history, and text messages are the proof that carries a no-lease case, so build that file from your first month, not the month before trial.
3. Do not honor ghost deals. "The old landlord let me pay on the 15th." Maybe. Ask for it in writing, check it against the seller's certification, and answer in writing. Silence reads as agreement.
4. Decide: keep or transition. If the tenant pays and the numbers work, offer a written lease on your terms at the next renewal point. Paper the tenancy you already own. If the unit needs to be empty for the rehab, pick a transition path now, because every notice clock runs longer than investors expect. My investor services page covers how my office runs this for portfolio buyers.
5. Mind the deposit clock. If an inherited tenant moves out in your first months of ownership, the deposit deadlines fall on you: itemize deductions in 30 days, return the balance in 45. The deposit rules do not care that you owned the building for six weeks.

If You Want Them Out

Three clean paths. The right one depends on whether the tenant pays, how fast you need the unit, and where the building sits.

On the first path, one clock detail matters for inherited tenants. Chicago's Fair Notice tiers run on the length of the tenancy: 30 days under six months, 60 days from six months to three years, and 120 days over three years. The sale did not restart that tenancy. The clock counts the tenant's whole time in the unit, including every year under the seller. A tenant who came with a building you bought last month can still sit in the 120-day tier.

And the missing lease? It does not block the courthouse door. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 139(b)(2) lets you file a one-page standardized affidavit in place of the lease you never received. You check the box that matches reality, you prove the tenancy with the payment records, and the case runs like any other eviction. The full walkthrough, with the free official forms, is in my no-lease eviction guide. For the court process itself, county by county, see my Chicago eviction practice page.

Inherited Tenant FAQ

Do existing leases survive when I buy an occupied building in Illinois?

Yes. You take the building subject to the existing tenancies. The lease binds you as the new owner. The tenant keeps the same rent, the same term, and the same rights. Nobody has to sign anything new. If there is no written lease, the tenant holds a month-to-month tenancy, and you end it with proper notice through the courts, never with a lockout.

The seller gave me no lease and no ledger. Can I still evict?

Yes. Illinois built a one-page court form for this exact gap. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 139(b)(2) lets you file a standardized affidavit in place of the lease you never received. Your proof becomes the payment history, the messages, and your testimony. But the gap cuts both ways. With no ledger, the tenant's version of the rent terms fills the silence. Start your own records on day one.

How much notice do I owe a month-to-month tenant I inherited?

Statewide, 30 days under 735 ILCS 5/9-207, timed to end on the last day of a rental period. Chicago stretches that clock by tenancy length: 30 days under six months, 60 days for six months to three years, and 120 days over three years. The clock counts the tenant's whole time in the unit, not your time as owner. Most of suburban Cook County requires a flat 60 days. A 5-day notice for nonpayment stays 5 days everywhere.

Who holds the security deposit after the sale?

Make it you, at closing, with a written accounting. Illinois deposit law now covers every residential landlord, and mishandling costs twice the deposit plus attorney fees. Chicago and suburban Cook County add their own penalties on the same scale. I treat every inherited deposit as money I will owe back with interest. Get the funds, get the paper trail, and put the deposit in a compliant account before the first rent check arrives.