Problems w/previous property owner

[merrygoround]

I assume you have insurance, care, custody and control. If not, why not? You are living dangerously without it.

Your insurance company will want a new contract with your boarders to be written and signed.

[TheJenners]

@clanter

her junk is your junk since it was not removed by closing date as by law in most all states if not all states stuff that was left becomes that of the buyer at the closing (unless prior agreement)

Yup. I bought a boarding facility once, it was in the agreement that they had to install a really long French drain down a walkway (like 300+’) and things sorta hemmed and hawed until contract was signed and I was left with a three-foot deep ditch with drain pipe in it, open. So I wound up shoveling on my own with no tractor all the rock into the drain, when the owners had a subcompact that would have done the job easy. I was young and dumb and my ex was a pantywaist, so we signed off on the sale with them verbally saying they’d finish.

OP, rent a dumpster, empty the two stalls. Maybe tell her you’re doing it but don’t let her run the show (“oh I’ll empty it!” and a week later it’s still there). Tell her it’s coming on X day - and mean it, have it rented - and you WILL be emptying the stalls that day and having it hauled off that evening or the next morning. And don’t let her just move stuff to another area, tell her it must leave the property or it will go into the dumpster, even if she put it all in the tackroom or around the corner of the barn or over by where trailers are parked, or whatever your set up. Fine if it fits in a tack locker, as long as she doesn’t take everything in it OUT to put crap IN and is still taking up space.

As for the interfering in management? Had the same thing happen in the above scenario, because they had 10 acres with a rental house and their house at opposite ends of a long rectangle. I bought the lower half square with the former rental house, and they kept the upper square. They still made little remarks and ran off my business because I did it differently than they did so they would make sniffling little remarks to people about “well when we ran it…”, and people would call them for boarding because it historically was “the Burlington’s place,” and instead of passing the info to me, it just disappeared into the ether despite me having space available. So. Not. Worth. It. So make a clean break, give her notice if she does it again, and move along.

[MoonWitch]

Same thing happened to me. We took over and former owner still had a few horses and “informed” us that they would be staying there, but not to worry, since they would be coming and doing their own stalls, feed etc. Um…no. I told her what she would have to pay for board and she was mortified.

Make the break. Tell them you have boarders coming so you’ll need those stalls empty and clean by x date. If they don’t, tell them they will owe board for the two stalls that are being used since that is money you’re loosing as a business. I would put it in writing and send certified mail, signed receipt.

Sorry, but sometimes being accommodating turns into a footpath down your back.

[ASB_Stars]

@MoonWitch

Same thing happened to me. We took over and former owner still had a few horses and “informed” us that they would be staying there, but not to worry, since they would be coming and doing their own stalls, feed etc. Um…no. I told her what she would have to pay for board and she was mortified.

Make the break. Tell them you have boarders coming so you’ll need those stalls empty and clean by x date. If they don’t, tell them they will owe board for the two stalls that are being used since that is money you’re loosing as a business. I would put it in writing and send certified mail, signed receipt.

Sorry, but sometimes being accommodating turns into a footpath down your back.

This. Been there.

[LaurieB]

@MoonWitch

Same thing happened to me. We took over and former owner still had a few horses and “informed” us that they would be staying there, but not to worry, since they would be coming and doing their own stalls, feed etc. Um…no. I told her what she would have to pay for board and she was mortified.

Make the break. Tell them you have boarders coming so you’ll need those stalls empty and clean by x date. If they don’t, tell them they will owe board for the two stalls that are being used since that is money you’re loosing as a business. I would put it in writing and send certified mail, signed receipt.

Sorry, but sometimes being accommodating turns into a footpath down your back.

Also been there. We arrived for what should have been our final walk through the “empty” property on the way to the closing and found six horses still there (a stallion, two mares, two yearlings, and a foal.) Owner told us not to worry, she would move them when she found a new place for them. Umm…no. We walked.

A few days later, another closing scheduled, the horses were gone but she had 3 German Shepherds in a pen behind the barn and her sister was in the swimming pool. We walked again.

It took us a week to close on the damn property (we were in a hotel having come from 400 miles away.) Third and final try, she’d gotten her sister and her dogs off the property :lol: so we went through with the closing. Found out a couple hours later that she’d left her cat behind. Sheesh.

[jvanrens]

@LaurieB

Also been there. We arrived for what should have been our final walk through the “empty” property on the way to the closing and found six horses still there (a stallion, two mares, two yearlings, and a foal.) Owner told us not to worry, she would move them when she found a new place for them. Umm…no. We walked.

A few days later, another closing scheduled, the horses were gone but she had 3 German Shepherds in a pen behind the barn and her sister was in the swimming pool. We walked again.

It took us a week to close on the damn property (we were in a hotel having come from 400 miles away.) Third and final try, she’d gotten her sister and her dogs off the property :lol: so we went through with the closing. Found out a couple hours later that she’d left her cat behind. Sheesh.

I shouldn’t be laughing, but I read this to my SO and he laughed too. Sounds like something that would happen to us if we bought a farm.

[TheJenners]

@jvanrens

I shouldn’t be laughing, but I read this to my SO and he laughed too. Sounds like something that would happen to us if we bought a farm.

I also laughed, so if @LaurieB wants to be mad, we can both sit in the corner and snicker :lol:

If it helps, two days after I closed on my land and construction was starting on my house, I arrested someone who lived right next door. Of course :lol: Thankfully they were renters and got evicted about a year later.

[jvanrens]

@TheJenners

I also laughed, so if @LaurieB wants to be mad, we can both sit in the corner and snicker :lol:

If it helps, two days after I closed on my land and construction was starting on my house, I arrested someone who lived right next door. Of course :lol: Thankfully they were renters and got evicted about a year later.

There’s a house warming party waiting to happen! Guess they didn’t roll out the welcome wagon? 🤣😉

[TheJenners]

They never knew, lucky me :lol:

[skydy]

@crescentvalleyfarm

My Family recently bought a boarding facility in which the previous owner is continuing to board her horse. She did not clear the property of the large amount of junk that inevitably accumulates at such a facility and she continuously inserts herself into the management choices we make. Two stalls are unusable because they were used to store junk, and we have a waitlist of potential boarders. Also, she gave a friend a ridiculously low rate for a mini and we would really like to raise the rate in a professional and courteous manner. Any tips on how to proceed?

5 days and no response OP?

[mvp]

@clanter

well. some of the fault is the buyers representation or lack of. I often have used real estate attorneys to handle the paperwork (Cheapest lawyer fee you will ever benefit from) But those lawyers know what the paperwork is supposed to include and how it should be worded. Unless a person is buying new pickup trucks everyday a real estate purchase is often the largest purchase they ever make. A contract that is screwy is one that can cost you major headaches

Before the closing the seller should have removed their stuff (or have an agreement with buyer by such and such date the junk would be removed…and if there was such an agreement an escrow account would have been set up to cover the removal costs if seller failed to preform)

My first house we bought, the closing took nine hours as our attorney (who was a close friend) keep finding faults… the seller rather than getting a check at the end was writing checks to cover items that “were forgotten”.

---

And if the buyer’s attorney screws up they have an errors and omission insurance coverage that can be gone after

Nah. If you did any due diligence on the property, you saw the junk. No one on your side of the deal-- most of all you-- should have negotiated a contract without specifying what happens to that. And insofar as this is a very big purchase, than it’s incumbent upon the buyer to learn what it takes to get that particular transaction to close in a way that doesn’t rip them off. I could perhaps understand the buyer of a commercial facility who did not attend the inspection and not hiring a good inspector missing something. But a “feature” as conspicuous as a huge pile of junk? That’s not something it takes an expert to consider.

ETA: I knew a couple who bought an almost-$1M farm that had a years-old/huge manure pile on it. After they closed, they discovered that the county was about to put a lien on the place for the cost of removing it. They were given something like 60 days to remove it and got some huge bids, but luckily found someone who would remove it for free as compost.

My question: How does anyone not require that the manure pile be removed before they close? How did someone on their side not discover the pending unhappiness of the county? Again, these folks were well-off enough to buy a place that, by the time they fixed it up, was going to cost them more than $1M, so you would have thought they would have thought…

[ThreeFigs]

So I wonder what the OP is doing about the situation?

[McGurk]

At least all the previous owner left for us was 5 cats. And an angry ex who kept breaking into the house after closing but before we moved in.

[511]

@LaurieB

It took us a week to close on the damn property (we were in a hotel having come from 400 miles away.) Third and final try, she’d gotten her sister and her dogs off the property :lol: so we went through with the closing. Found out a couple hours later that she’d left her cat behind. Sheesh.

What did you name your new cat?

[LaurieB]

@5

What did you name your new cat?

:lol:

My husband and I are both allergic to cats. And we had 4 dogs when we moved in. So we we rehomed the cat with a friend.

[JanM]

The most outrageous previous owner story happened to a co-worker’s neighbor. The previous owner had lived in the house for many years, and reluctantly moved in with her adult daughter nearby, and sold to a young single woman. The new owner thought something odd was going on, but chalked it up to being busy at work. She would come home, and the mail was on the hall table, but she didn’t remember going out to get it.

Then, the new owner wanted to plant various colors of flower bulbs, but wanted to mix the colors up. So she set them on the porch, dug the holes, but when she went on the weekend to plant them, they were already buried. Then when they bloomed, they were in exact rows by color, which wasn’t what she planned. Then the old owner came by when the woman was home on a week day, grabbed her mail, and waltzed in the front door. The new owner hadn’t changed the locks, and the previous owner was treating the house as if she still lived there. She had been collecting the mail, planted the flower bulbs, and did the bulbs the way she liked them. The new owner called a lock smith, told the woman that she no longer owned the property, and wasn’t welcome.

The old owner said it was obvious that the new owner didn’t know anything about owning the home, and was very insulted, but left and stayed away.

[Scribbler]

@JanM

The most outrageous previous owner story happened to a co-worker’s neighbor. The previous owner had lived in the house for many years, and reluctantly moved in with her adult daughter nearby, and sold to a young single woman. The new owner thought something odd was going on, but chalked it up to being busy at work. She would come home, and the mail was on the hall table, but she didn’t remember going out to get it.

Then, the new owner wanted to plant various colors of flower bulbs, but wanted to mix the colors up. So she set them on the porch, dug the holes, but when she went on the weekend to plant them, they were already buried. Then when they bloomed, they were in exact rows by color, which wasn’t what she planned. Then the old owner came by when the woman was home on a week day, grabbed her mail, and waltzed in the front door. The new owner hadn’t changed the locks, and the previous owner was treating the house as if she still lived there. She had been collecting the mail, planted the flower bulbs, and did the bulbs the way she liked them. The new owner called a lock smith, told the woman that she no longer owned the property, and wasn’t welcome.

The old owner said it was obvious that the new owner didn’t know anything about owning the home, and was very insulted, but left and stayed away.

Probably a bit of dementia in the mix.

Good reminder though about getting locks changed as soon as you move in. No telling who has keys to a place.

[16_Hands]

An acquaintance of mine had leased a barn to run her lesson program out of and the owner had one horse on the property that she wanted to keep there but didn’t pay for any board. The acquaintance was such a wuss she let it happen and never stood up for herself in any situation. She’d show up and the barn owner would be puttering about, changing out the hotwire fencing to her satisfaction, moving things around, feeding horses that didn’t belong to her treats… etc. etc. The acquaintance brought in a partner who bought the house which included the barn/arena, got rid of the free loading owner but then kicked out the acquaintance! That was the end of her lesson program. Had to sell all her school horses, her personal horse, and the boarders all had to leave. What a mess!

[trubandloki]

@JanM that story is just crazy, and very creepy!

[JanM]

The second I move into a house, even a new build, I change the locks. My favorite locks for entry doors are the ones, you can change the keying yourself, and it’s very easy.