Tenant Not Paying What to Do

At http://moremerchant.com we have been having readers ask questions and then other readers respond.  The questions have been great and numerous.  You can give it a shot here: More Merchant Question Form.  Here is the most recent question on landlord / tenant law.

Readers Questions:

What do you do with a tenant who does not pay rent and violates the lease?

I worked so hard to buy a rental property. This renter has her whole family move in. They have caused a lot of noise and the neighbors have been complaining. Her son, his wife, and child all have moved in. She has moved her daughter’s boyfriend in too. To top it off, she has not paid this month’s rent after I gave her a month notice to move out.

 Best Readers Response: I work in Property Management and as such I do deal with evictions from time to time. A lot of eviction laws vary from state to state but there are a few standards that apply. You must file the case in court and have them served with an eviction notice. If the date on the notice passes and they do not move out or pay then you can contact your local balliff and order what’s called a WRIT (a document for restitution) which the balliff will place on their door. It will have a pre-determined amount of time on it and once that time passes you are free to physically evict them with the balliff present.

In the future I recommend changing your leases to reflect fines for paying rent late. At my company we charge a late fee of $100 on the 5th and another one on the 10th. If it goes to court we also charge them for their legal fees.

It is also important how your lease and the order of eviction are worded. You want to have a clause in your lease that states that a partial payment will not stop an eviction and you want the court to put that on the notice as well (as long as that’s legal in your state). As to the noise issues, you need to add a “reasonable enjoyment” clause to your lease which states that people can be evicted if multiple noise complaints and other violations occur. We take a three strikes and you’re out approach to noise. We make the residents that are complaining put it in writing and then we send a letter to the violator. If the noise continues we require it in writing again and then we send a much harsher letter and make a phone call. If we receive a third complaint in writing we file for eviction. We do allow three days after sending each letter for compliance to allow for postal times.

It is important to send all documentation like this through first class mail. Do not just give it to them.

I hope all of this helps. Good luck!

PS – Go to google and put in landlord law your state for more information.

One more thing – in my state we are required by law to send a seven day notice when we haven’t received rent. The seven day time period must pass before we can take the case to court. Check your state for the laws regarding Demand for Possessions.

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