Tough times, but have tenant not paying rent and has no job. Have been patient, but have to consider business is business.
I believe a rental management co. would evict.
Am new here, but have followed some discussions. Any input is greatly valued.
Thank you!
sowallandlord
Replies
36
SoWal Expert
A legal eviction can take up to 12 months, and in the end, it is no fun for neither the landlord nor the tenant. Better read up on the law, because you cant legally just go change the locks on the house and throw their possessions curbside, and think all is hunky dory.
Sometimes, being a landlord means thinking about the business, and other times, it means thinking about being a human and having some sympathy. Knowing that eviction can take so long, you might try cutting a deal on the rents, or forgiving some of the rent if the tenant is taking good care of the house. Perhaps you can barter some work/maintenance for rent if the tenant can perform such tasks. You need to remember that there are plenty of empty rentals right now, and just because you evict the tenant, doesn't mean that you are going to immediately begin receiving rent from a new tenant. I think a tenant would be extremely grateful if the landlord were willing to try and work out something, as everyone seems to be going through tough times. You might end up with a tenant who is willing to do anything for you, and very willing to take great care of your property.
Sometimes, being a landlord means thinking about the business, and other times, it means thinking about being a human and having some sympathy. Knowing that eviction can take so long, you might try cutting a deal on the rents, or forgiving some of the rent if the tenant is taking good care of the house. Perhaps you can barter some work/maintenance for rent if the tenant can perform such tasks. You need to remember that there are plenty of empty rentals right now, and just because you evict the tenant, doesn't mean that you are going to immediately begin receiving rent from a new tenant. I think a tenant would be extremely grateful if the landlord were willing to try and work out something, as everyone seems to be going through tough times. You might end up with a tenant who is willing to do anything for you, and very willing to take great care of your property.
Beach Fanatic
great response, SJ.
Hope it works out well for everyone involved. For sure there are more rental units available right now, than there are renters looking....
Hope it works out well for everyone involved. For sure there are more rental units available right now, than there are renters looking....
SoWal Expert
I would suggest that you have them do something to partially work off their rent - perhaps light labor like cleaning, improvement projects, landscaping etc. Don't know that you can float their full rent amount, but a 25% or 50% reduction w/ bartering would probably help you both out in the current economy.
Unless they are just a deadbeat, then evict them!
Quasi related question - why does it take so long to evict someone?
My lease gives me an exact time frame for how much advance notice I get/have to give before my butt and belongings are no longer occupying the premises, so what is with the long delay?
Unless they are just a deadbeat, then evict them!
Quasi related question - why does it take so long to evict someone?
My lease gives me an exact time frame for how much advance notice I get/have to give before my butt and belongings are no longer occupying the premises, so what is with the long delay?
Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
Thought twice about rehashing THAT Thread.
Good luck to you!
Good luck to you!
Edited
SoWal InsiderAuthor
Thanks Everyone.
The lease says three days upon notice for nonpayment of rent. I checked with Walton Co. on filing fees with fee for service by sheriff and it's over $300. With all of this, tenant can legally be out within a few days if they just don't leave on their on volition when I send the notice.
With tenant not paying and I have a mortgage to pay, I am dancing around this one as I do recognize that it's difficult out there, but I also know others who are working 2 and 3 jobs to make their ends meet.
Someone mentioned 'deadbeat.' I like to believe the best in people, but you might have hit the nail on the head.
Sorry if this was addressed before on another thread......I am new and value the input of this message community.
Thank you again to everyone!
The lease says three days upon notice for nonpayment of rent. I checked with Walton Co. on filing fees with fee for service by sheriff and it's over $300. With all of this, tenant can legally be out within a few days if they just don't leave on their on volition when I send the notice.
With tenant not paying and I have a mortgage to pay, I am dancing around this one as I do recognize that it's difficult out there, but I also know others who are working 2 and 3 jobs to make their ends meet.
Someone mentioned 'deadbeat.' I like to believe the best in people, but you might have hit the nail on the head.
Sorry if this was addressed before on another thread......I am new and value the input of this message community.
Thank you again to everyone!
Beach Fanatic
12 months to legally evict? thats hard to believe. the above poster says once the eviction notice served it takes days to get them out. that's how it is in other states. if it took 12 months to evict, nobody would rent or they'd have to collect 12 months rent up front.
Beach Fanatic
Check out the Employment Forum lately and there are certainly jobs available. They may not pay like someone was once making. But if they aren't currently making anything.........end of discussion.
I wonder if the 12 month eviction thing isn't related to forclosures versus a rental unit. I am aware of homes on the market for sale, short sale and foreclosure that the present (or past owners) are still in the home and they haven't made payments for as long as a year.
You should be fully within your rights, especially if financials dictate you have no other option, to ask them to find another place to live. Perhaps if they could find another place for less money, they might be able to make things work. They are only making a bad name for themselves not paying you as the next people won't let them in due to a past history of not paying. You are doing them a favor by asking them to do the right thing not only for you, but for themselves.
Put the home back on the market and try to find another renter and possibly float them until someone wants your place in exchange for them keeping the place in a condition to show prospective clients.
I wonder if the 12 month eviction thing isn't related to forclosures versus a rental unit. I am aware of homes on the market for sale, short sale and foreclosure that the present (or past owners) are still in the home and they haven't made payments for as long as a year.
You should be fully within your rights, especially if financials dictate you have no other option, to ask them to find another place to live. Perhaps if they could find another place for less money, they might be able to make things work. They are only making a bad name for themselves not paying you as the next people won't let them in due to a past history of not paying. You are doing them a favor by asking them to do the right thing not only for you, but for themselves.
Put the home back on the market and try to find another renter and possibly float them until someone wants your place in exchange for them keeping the place in a condition to show prospective clients.
SoWal Expert
(I'm not an attorney.) A tenant can file an appeal for an eviction, and it would then go to a Court. I believe a good attorney could make a case for a tenant who has been actively looking for a job, yet couldn't find one. From what I've seen, it can take a while to get to Court. Maybe things work faster in Walton County, as the population is much less than other cities in the US where I've lived.
Here is an idea: It will cost you $300 to serve notice. More to clean up the place, and more for time not having someone else in the house paying rent. A win - win may be that you offer the tenant $500 to vacate the premises within x number of days, and leave it clean and ready to rent. If it is not clean, tenant doesn't get paid full amount (maybe pay half just to get tenant out, and you are still saving money, and can begin searching for your new tenant.) Someone with no money to pay rent may seize the opportunity to get some quick cash.
Here is an idea: It will cost you $300 to serve notice. More to clean up the place, and more for time not having someone else in the house paying rent. A win - win may be that you offer the tenant $500 to vacate the premises within x number of days, and leave it clean and ready to rent. If it is not clean, tenant doesn't get paid full amount (maybe pay half just to get tenant out, and you are still saving money, and can begin searching for your new tenant.) Someone with no money to pay rent may seize the opportunity to get some quick cash.
SoWal Insider
IMHO, you've got a place that could be generating revenue that you're currently loosing money on and will likely never get back rent. Just file the papers and get the guy out so you can start renting it again. The longer you wait the more money you risk.
I think it's important to note that even if he gets up and current, (highly doubtlful) you know the second he looses his job again the first thing he'll do is stop paying the rent. He's already shown you that in this case. Take this opportunity to replace him with someone who might be more responsible.
Some might think this a heartless approach, but really, giving this guy a million second chances - it's not going to teach him anything. But it will cost you a lot of money.
I think it's important to note that even if he gets up and current, (highly doubtlful) you know the second he looses his job again the first thing he'll do is stop paying the rent. He's already shown you that in this case. Take this opportunity to replace him with someone who might be more responsible.
Some might think this a heartless approach, but really, giving this guy a million second chances - it's not going to teach him anything. But it will cost you a lot of money.
Edited
Beach Fanatic
Put the home back on the market and try to find another renter and possibly float them until someone wants your place in exchange for them keeping the place in a condition to show prospective clients.
I am finding out this works better in theory than in practice. We've "floated" a tenant with rent reduced to half for a few months now so that the family could stay put until the end of the school year (this week). With their agreement, we started advertising the house as available June 1, and we've shown it a couple of times. Trouble is that the current tenant has no real incentive to keep the house in good condition for showing since they would like to stay at the reduced rent until we find a new tenant. We thought some rent is better than no rent. It sounded like a good idea, but it isn't working well for us.
Good luck. It's tough all around these days.
Beach Fanatic
From someone who's gone through the process of evicting a tenant...
This was in Bay County. Three to four months is probably more accurate, but SJ is right, in that it can take much, much longer. The tenant has more rights than the landlord.
I have an interesting eviction story. My tenants were friends of a family member, down on their luck, and genuinely good folks. I let them stay at the house for about 3-4 months without paying rent, before I took action because I wanted to help. What followed was the eviction process. See what happened at the end...
Check with the Walton County website for the details. First the LL files a Notice to Quit, delivered by certified mail or by hand. In my case, the tenant continually refused the letter, which added a couple of weeks to the process. the Notice to Quit is the first of many steps to eviction. At this point the tenant can do all sorts of things that will stop the process.
If they receive the letter and do nothing, the LL can then file with the court a Complaint for Eviction and Damages, an Eviction Summons, and a Summons Action for Back Rent and Damages. Basically, the first document says you're filing a complaint and the last two docs, are the commands to serve the summons.
Next, the tenant has 5 days to take action. Again, this can come in many forms. In my case, the tenant wrote a 10 page, hand written letter of hardship that she submitted to the judge. She could have paid partial rent, or disputed the amount, any of these actions, slows the process, or can start the process all over again.
Three weeks later, we went before the judge and I was granted possession of the premises. Because she made no attempt to pay anything, the judge ruled in my favor. From this point, a Writ of Possession is ordered, the tenant is served and they have 24 hours to vacate the property.
My situation was not pretty, as when I arrived with the sherrif, they had not taken the action seriously. As for their personal property, you can not simply take it to the curb for trash pick-up. By law, you are required to run a notice in the paper and provide a place for them to recover their belongings for 30 days.
I started the process the first week in January and the last of their belongs were removed by the last week in March. The filings and sherrif's services cost between $200-300.
I further went to mediation with my tenant because they wanted to pay the rent and clear the judgement. After two payments, they stopped and I have had no communication with them since. Mysteriously, about a year later, the remaining balance on what they owed was deposited to my checking account indicating that it was back rent. They made good on their debt.
I'm sharing this for landlords AND tenant as I hope it is helpful to someone in either position. These are hard times and it's difficult to make these decisions without a realistic idea of what to expect in the process.
This was in Bay County. Three to four months is probably more accurate, but SJ is right, in that it can take much, much longer. The tenant has more rights than the landlord.
I have an interesting eviction story. My tenants were friends of a family member, down on their luck, and genuinely good folks. I let them stay at the house for about 3-4 months without paying rent, before I took action because I wanted to help. What followed was the eviction process. See what happened at the end...
Check with the Walton County website for the details. First the LL files a Notice to Quit, delivered by certified mail or by hand. In my case, the tenant continually refused the letter, which added a couple of weeks to the process. the Notice to Quit is the first of many steps to eviction. At this point the tenant can do all sorts of things that will stop the process.
If they receive the letter and do nothing, the LL can then file with the court a Complaint for Eviction and Damages, an Eviction Summons, and a Summons Action for Back Rent and Damages. Basically, the first document says you're filing a complaint and the last two docs, are the commands to serve the summons.
Next, the tenant has 5 days to take action. Again, this can come in many forms. In my case, the tenant wrote a 10 page, hand written letter of hardship that she submitted to the judge. She could have paid partial rent, or disputed the amount, any of these actions, slows the process, or can start the process all over again.
Three weeks later, we went before the judge and I was granted possession of the premises. Because she made no attempt to pay anything, the judge ruled in my favor. From this point, a Writ of Possession is ordered, the tenant is served and they have 24 hours to vacate the property.
My situation was not pretty, as when I arrived with the sherrif, they had not taken the action seriously. As for their personal property, you can not simply take it to the curb for trash pick-up. By law, you are required to run a notice in the paper and provide a place for them to recover their belongings for 30 days.
I started the process the first week in January and the last of their belongs were removed by the last week in March. The filings and sherrif's services cost between $200-300.
I further went to mediation with my tenant because they wanted to pay the rent and clear the judgement. After two payments, they stopped and I have had no communication with them since. Mysteriously, about a year later, the remaining balance on what they owed was deposited to my checking account indicating that it was back rent. They made good on their debt.
I'm sharing this for landlords AND tenant as I hope it is helpful to someone in either position. These are hard times and it's difficult to make these decisions without a realistic idea of what to expect in the process.
Edited
SoWal InsiderAuthor
Ash, that's what I have noticed, too. There is an issue with why this person isn't working. I checked with Walton Co and the process is different than what you've described, Chandra....sorry for what you went through!
I have considered the hardship, but there are shelters to help people get 'back on their feet' and the Landlord has protections, too. We have a good case to evict, but not something we want to do. We want this person to be able to the pay the rent, but not sure if stability is there.
Then, it comes down to my bottom line. And, it's not good business sense to enable this person......I say enable, because there has been a pattern. Would be different if this person was just laid off from a company with a history. But, that's not the case.
Thank you All for your input! I do wish for better times upon us all.
sowallandlord
I have considered the hardship, but there are shelters to help people get 'back on their feet' and the Landlord has protections, too. We have a good case to evict, but not something we want to do. We want this person to be able to the pay the rent, but not sure if stability is there.
Then, it comes down to my bottom line. And, it's not good business sense to enable this person......I say enable, because there has been a pattern. Would be different if this person was just laid off from a company with a history. But, that's not the case.
Thank you All for your input! I do wish for better times upon us all.
sowallandlord
Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
Ash, that's what I have noticed, too. There is an issue with why this person isn't working. I checked with Walton Co and the process is different than what you've described, Chandra....sorry for what you went through!
I have considered the hardship, but there are shelters to help people get 'back on their feet' and the Landlord has protections, too. We have a good case to evict, but not something we want to do. We want this person to be able to the pay the rent, but not sure if stability is there.
Then, it comes down to my bottom line. And, it's not good business sense to enable this person......I say enable, because there has been a pattern. Would be different if this person was just laid off from a company with a history. But, that's not the case.
Thank you All for your input! I do wish for better times upon us all.
sowallandlord
You sound like a very loving, kind and caring person. I can tell this is hard for you to have to do. You do have to look out for yourself though. People will take advantage of you if you let them, and if you enable them. I hope everything works out for you!
SoWal Expert
If they aren't working, why can't they pay their rent w/ their unemployment check? I don't know exactly how that works, but it should be enough to pay part, right?
Beach Fanatic
If they were an independent contractor, there doesn't become any unemployment when they run out of work. Same reason government unemployment figures are so out of whack. It isn't counting all the people out of work. Just those who are filing.
Beach Comber
I have a suggestion which works 9 out of 10 times.
After all reasonable options have been exhausted,
simply remove the front door.
For some unknown reason, most people are extremely uncomfortable
staying in a property with no front door!
Go ahead and laugh, but it really works!
(and remember, it's YOUR door!!!, not theirs.)
Life is good!
After all reasonable options have been exhausted,
simply remove the front door.
For some unknown reason, most people are extremely uncomfortable
staying in a property with no front door!
Go ahead and laugh, but it really works!
(and remember, it's YOUR door!!!, not theirs.)
Life is good!
Beach Fanatic
wow! Judge, jury, and sentence pronounced on silent tenant. Sounds like a witchhunt to me. My dad was an attorney and at that time there were two sides to a story. Someone once told me if you point a finger at someone there are 3 pointing back. Is the landlord keeping his side of the agreement? I always like to know both sides. If there is not input from the tenant- how can you weigh a decision? I read a book that said the surest investment is judgment, it has 100% guaranteed return. It's a scary thing...having judged others and been judged before- I just don't think I want to go there. Answer- no comment.
Beach Fanatic
We have always had success keeping the power bill in our name. We get to stop by monthly and pick up the monies for the electric and look the property over. When they have no rent money, we have no electric money. It is amazing how fast that rent money would show up when the power is about to be shut off.
Admin
wow! Judge, jury, and sentence pronounced on silent tenant. Sounds like a witchhunt to me. My dad was an attorney and at that time there were two sides to a story. Someone once told me if you point a finger at someone there are 3 pointing back. Is the landlord keeping his side of the agreement? I always like to know both sides. If there is not input from the tenant- how can you weigh a decision? I read a book that said the surest investment is judgment, it has 100% guaranteed return. It's a scary thing...having judged others and been judged before- I just don't think I want to go there. Answer- no comment.
A landlord said their tenant isn't paying and asked for our help and advice - that is what's happening.
We have always had success keeping the power bill in our name. We get to stop by monthly and pick up the monies for the electric and look the property over. When they have no rent money, we have no electric money. It is amazing how fast that rent money would show up when the power is about to be shut off.
Sounds like a good plan, although I'm not sure it's legal to turn off utilities on a tenant without proper procedure.
Beach Fanatic
Sounds like a good plan, although I'm not sure it's legal to turn off utilities on a tenant without proper procedure.
Never had to get that far.
Lots of loopholes in what is legal, esp. if it is their money you are using to pay the electric bill. If they can not pay you, how are you going to pay it? You are not turning it off. It is being shut off by the utility company. ;-)Like I said, you would not believe how fast the money shows up.
SoWal InsiderAuthor
Successful Eviction!!
Tenant did not abide by terms of lease or eviction notice so we are now considering moving forward to sue for back rent. Not something we want to do, but we have to look after ourselves in this economy.
Have any of you landlords here ever had to sue in a situation like this? We are not litigious, but this turned ugly despite our generosity time and time again....and, we are out quite a bit of money. Quandry!
Tenant did not abide by terms of lease or eviction notice so we are now considering moving forward to sue for back rent. Not something we want to do, but we have to look after ourselves in this economy.
Have any of you landlords here ever had to sue in a situation like this? We are not litigious, but this turned ugly despite our generosity time and time again....and, we are out quite a bit of money. Quandry!
Beach Fanatic
Successful Eviction!!
Tenant did not abide by terms of lease or eviction notice so we are now considering moving forward to sue for back rent. Not something we want to do, but we have to look after ourselves in this economy.
Have any of you landlords here ever had to sue in a situation like this? We are not litigious, but this turned ugly despite our generosity time and time again....and, we are out quite a bit of money. Quandry!
Well, we know they didn't abide by the lease but what did they do to violate the eviction? Are they not out yet? Did you offer them some sort of deal to go away and they didn't take it? DISH!!!
SoWal Insider
Successful Eviction!!
Tenant did not abide by terms of lease or eviction notice so we are now considering moving forward to sue for back rent. Not something we want to do, but we have to look after ourselves in this economy.
Have any of you landlords here ever had to sue in a situation like this? We are not litigious, but this turned ugly despite our generosity time and time again....and, we are out quite a bit of money. Quandry!
Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
That is exactly what I thought. If they couldn't pay their rent, how will you recover back rent? What good will suing them do? I mean I feel your frustration and you did what I would have done, but not sure what else you can get out of them. They obviously don't have any $$ or wouldn't they have been paying their rent?
Beach Fanatic
That is exactly what I thought. If they couldn't pay their rent, how will you recover back rent? What good will suing them do? I mean I feel your frustration and you did what I would have done, but not sure what else you can get out of them. They obviously don't have any $$ or wouldn't they have been paying their rent?
Very well said...and awesome visual!
Edited
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