I am the buyer in a short sale.  We received bank approval for the short sale from both the first and second mortgage holders on May 23rd.  I was told there was an IRS tax lien associated with the property but that the bank had agreed to pay it (which was pretty much unheard of per my loan officer).  We were scheduled to close on June 25th, a Monday (our closing deadline was the 28th).  On Thursday the 21st, I get a call saying that someone at the closing attorney's office noticed that in fact there are two IRS liens, not one.  They (person at the closing attorney's office) thought they could get a letter from the IRS stating an intention to release the lien in time for us to close by the deadline, which of course didn't happen. 

My realtor gave me an update yesterday saying that they are waiting for new short sale approval letters from both mortgage holders and that the seller has submitted all paperwork to the IRS to have the liens lifted from the properties and has been assigned a caseworker.  The IRS is apparently backed up right now and they're estimating 6-8 weeks to get the liens lifted. 

The sellers have moved out of the house.  I have my concerns about it being vacant for the next 6-8 weeks (yard is a mess, utilities are shut off and the doors are unlocked).  I also had renters set to move in to my current home last weekend.  They are willing to wait to move in but their landlord has also found new tenants and they're anticipating being kicked out shortly.

What are everyone's thoughts about doing a pre-occupancy agreement in this case?  It would be best for everyone if we could just move into the house while we're waiting on paperwork.  I know it's risky, but the banks already approved the sale once already and our financing is good to go.  From what I've read, it seems like the IRS liens are not difficult to get lifted, just time consuming.