It is entirely possible to sell a house with a tenant even though some issues, that will affect the sale, must be taken into consideration. Sometimes, there is a belief that if a property is rented then the owner cannot sell it. However, this is not so, although there are some nuances. There is no law that prevents a rented property from being sold; therefore, in this regard, we can state that there are no legal limitations on the owner to sell the property even though it is rented. That being said, it is necessary to take into account some aspects that may affect the sale. First of all, the Law of Urban Leases (LAU) states that the preferential right of acquisition corresponds to the tenant and, if interested in purchasing it, takes priority over anybody else. This means that if the tenant wishes to purchase the property, at the price set by the owner, nobody can dispute it. Thus, when the owner decides to sell the house, the tenant must be the first person to be informed and so can exercise the right of first refusal within thirty calendar days from the date of the notification. The owner can sell the property before the end of the lease contract provided that the tenant expressly waives the right to purchase it. In any case, it is important to bear in mind the duration of the rental contract (according to the current law, it is between five and seven years), as this must always be respected. If the buyer is in no need to live in the house immediately, then maybe the purchase of the property with a tenant can be very advantageous because a well-known tenant who makes good use of the house and, in addition, pays regularly is really a complete guarantee. Furthermore, the buyer would not have to look for a tenant whilst not needing to live in the house, a fact which would save a lot of time and effort.

WAIVER OF PURCHASE IN THE RENTAL CONTRACT

It is increasingly common to include in a rental contract a clause whereby the tenant accepts the waiver of purchase as this can facilitate the process of its sale by the owner. This is an important issue which must be very much taken into consideration because if this clause is not included in the rental contract and the owner decides to sell the property, then the tenant must be the first potential buyer, meaning that only when this tenant has given up the right to purchase it, can the owner, and only then, sell it to somebody else. This matter is more important than we think because if the owner sells the property without having first notified the tenant, then this tenant could exercise the right of retraction to purchase the house for the same price and thus, cancelling the previous sale. Therefore, it is imperative that the owner notifies the tenant, in writing, the decision to sell the property indicating the price as well as the terms of sale as this is the only way that can be proved that the tenant has been notified. Only when the tenant states that there exists no wish to purchase the property, can the owner sell it to somebody else but always respecting the duration of the rental contract, as we have already mentioned.

SOME EXCEPTIONAL CASES

There are two very specific exceptions which limit the rights of the tenant. One of them is in the case when the whole building is owned by the same proprietor and wishes to sell it all together to the same buyer. In this situation, the tenant cannot purchase the property. Hence, if a person owns the whole building and sells all of it together, then the tenant will not have the right to purchase the house. The other very exceptional case, which could be possible, refers to the possibility of having the rental contract governed by the Law of 1964. In this case, if the price that was set by the owner exceeds the capitalization of income, only then could the tenant judicially contest the sale.