New homeowner says he can’t move in because former tenants won’t leave

CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A man in Ohio says he owns a home he can’t move into because the tenants haven’t moved out.

According to the tenants, the house was sold out from under them.

The situation has become a complicated one, especially for Doug Russell.

He said he finalized buying the home on April 4 but is still stuck in his apartment and is now responsible for kicking someone out of the house while having to go to court.

“Apartment life ... I’m getting a little old for it,” Russell said. “It’s been a dream of mine to own a home. It’s something I can leave my daughter and my grandson.”

Russell said the former tenants were told to leave by April 23 but haven’t and it’s left him navigating a complicated legal process.

“They’re still living in my house,” Russell said. “There’s nothing I can do to get them out.”

WXIX legal advisor Mark Krumbein said the people in the home fall into two categories - tenants or squatters. A tenant is someone who is paying rent, a squatter is someone who isn’t.

The law is more lenient to tenants.

“You have to give that tenant notice,” Krumbein said. “And they have 30 days to vacate.”

Squatters also need to be served an eviction notice, but it requires only three days to vacate. If they don’t, there will be a court hearing to verify ownership.

“The burden is on the owner to prove it,” Krumbein said.

The previous owner of the home had been renting it out, but he died, passing ownership to his granddaughter. She sold it to Russell while giving the tenants a 30-day notice.

Russell said they were served with a three-day eviction notice on May 1.

The tenants have reportedly been living in the home for 11 years.

According to Krumbein, the previous owner should have told them what was happening, so they weren’t thrown on the street. He said this is the reason why the process of providing notice exists.

Russell said they’re scheduled to go to court on May 28.

If the court rules in his favor, the tenants have 10 days to vacate before the bailiff forces them from the home. But if the court rules in favor of the tenants, it leaves Russell stuck in his apartment, paying more court fees and waiting with his entire life packed in boxes.

“It’s about a 45-minute drive and I’ve been back and forth 10 to 15 times,” Russell said. “I have to go there to get my mail picked up.”

Krumbein said for potential homebuyers, it’s a situation they need to consider.

“You could make an agreement with the former owner of the building and say hey, ‘I’m not buying the building until you evict your past tenant,’” Krumbein said.

Russell said he’s hopeful he and the tenants come to an easy solution.