Can I sell my home with a tenant in it, and can the buyer make them leave?

The tenancy survives the sale

Section 18 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 makes the covenants in a tenancy run with the land. On closing, the buyer becomes the landlord on the same terms: same rent, same lease, same last month's rent deposit with the interest owing on it. A fixed-term lease runs to its end. Selling is not a ground to end a tenancy, and a lease clause that says otherwise is void.

That means the first decision is commercial: sell subject to the tenancy, to a buyer who wants the income, or offer vacant possession, which only works if the buyer qualifies under the Act and the dates allow.

Showings and the tenant's privacy

Section 27 lets you, or your brokerage with your written authorization, enter to show the unit to a prospective buyer on written notice given at least 24 hours ahead that states the reason, the day and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The tenant does not have to leave, clean or agree to a lockbox, and you cannot penalise a tenant for being present or for declining an entry that was not properly noticed.

Repeated entries without notice interfere with the tenant's reasonable enjoyment and can lead to an order against you at the Landlord and Tenant Board. Agree a showing schedule with the tenant in writing; it usually gets more access, not less.

The N12 for a purchaser's own use

Section 49 allows a landlord who has signed an agreement of purchase and sale to give the tenant notice on the purchaser's behalf, but only if the building has no more than three residential units or the unit is a condominium, and only if the purchaser in good faith requires it for residential occupation by the purchaser, their spouse, a child or parent of either, or a caregiver for one of them. An investor who will re-rent cannot use it.

The termination date must be at least 60 days after the notice and fall on the last day of a rental period or fixed term. Under section 49.1, as of September 2026, you must pay the tenant one month's rent or offer another unit they accept; that obligation stays yours after closing. The tenant may leave earlier on ten days' notice.

If the tenant does not move out

An N12 is a notice, not an eviction. If the tenant is still in the unit after the termination date, only the Landlord and Tenant Board can order them out, on an application filed with the purchaser's sworn affidavit that they genuinely intend to occupy. Hearings take time and the Board can refuse the application if it doubts the purchaser's good faith.

Your sale agreement has to say what happens if possession is not vacant on closing: an extension, a price adjustment, or closing subject to the tenancy. Without that language you may be in breach of a promise you cannot keep, and the buyer may claim damages or refuse to close.

We draft that language into your agreement of purchase and sale, so you are never promising possession you cannot actually deliver.

Bad faith and its cost

Section 57 lets a former tenant apply to the Board within one year if the person named in the notice did not move in within a reasonable time after the tenant left. The Board can order the rent difference the tenant now pays, moving costs, a payment to the tenant and an administrative fine. Most of that risk belongs to the purchaser, but a seller who served a notice knowing the stated purpose was false is exposed too.

Keep the purchaser's written declaration of intent with your file, and do not serve an N12 on a buyer's say-so before the agreement is signed.

Drafting the sale around the tenant

Give the buyer a written summary of the rent, the deposit and interest, the lease term and any outstanding issues, and where possible have the tenant confirm it. If the buyer is assuming the tenancy, the agreement should assign the lease and adjust rent and deposit on closing. If vacant possession is promised, set the closing date to allow for the 60-day notice from the date the agreement becomes firm, and add a clause for a tenant who has not left.

A voluntary N11 agreement with the tenant to end the tenancy on a chosen date, sometimes with a payment, is lawful if it is genuinely voluntary.