What do we do with a lease agreement that came with property bought at court sale?

Full question:

I have recently purchased land through a court sale there is a lease agreement on the land the agreement has not been recorded and stipulations in the lease have not been met I need to know how binding the agreement is in OK.

• Category: Landlord Tenant
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Oklahoma

Answer:

Your question does not indicate whether this property is residential or commercial. Most lease agreements will have provisions for successors to the landlord so that the lease would continue despite a change in ownership of the property.

The property may have resident tenants who had been renting from the prior owners. In a lot of situations, the residents will have left long ago, terminating the lease based upon the owner's lack of maintenance, or by the foreclosing bank's demand that they vacate (the banks often accelerate the process by offering to pay the tenants to leave, known as "cash for keys"). But sometimes the tenants stick it out and are still there. If so, most of the time the new owners will have a choice of whether to keep the tenants.

If the tenants have a lease that was signed before the prior owner recorded his mortgage, they will survive the foreclosure. This means the new owner would have to honor their lease until it ends.

If the tenants have a month-to-month rental agreement, or a lease that was signed after the foreclosed-upon mortgage was recorded, the foreclosure wiped out their lease or rental agreement, and you can evict them if you choose.

If the home is subject to local rent control that requires landlords to have a just cause, or good reason, to terminate tenants' leases, you may not simply deliver a notice to vacate. You'll be stuck with these tenants as long as you use the property for rental purposes, or until you fit within one of the ordinance's allowable reasons for termination.