BiggerPockets

Hello all,

If anyone could share their thoughts/experiences with evicting tenants for non payment of rent, I would be most grateful. I file for an eviction hearing which I will need to attend in 2 weeks and I am having a lot of anxiety. Just to give some back ground information, I tried my best to do the right thing as a landlord, but I'm sure I have been mistakes during the process. This one if truly a drama story, so read on and hopefully you won't be so upset at my decisions :
We signed the lease on 12/27/2010 for one year. After a credit check was done, etcetera, on the day we met to sign the lease, I was soo STUPID to agree to allow them to give the security deposit in January (when income tax was received - which of course I never got). We bartered and since they needed to move, we agreed that they would pay ½ of the first months rent and in return they would complete the rest of the painting that needed to be done in the home and a few other minor things that needed to be taken care of. ALL of the above was documented on the lease however. They had the option to pay the rent via a check, money order or to deposit directly into my account and they chose to deposit directly into my account because we have the same bank. I would send them a receipt and I have my bank statements to prove exactly what they deposited and on which date. They have never disputed my receipts. On the second month after they moved in (February 2010), they were short $190 on the rent. Not to mention that I wasn't even renting the home to make money, they rent is JUST for me to be able to pay the mortgage!!! So I am always in the negative with repairs, etc. Anyway, we got passed that, but they still have not paid that. Then they call me in April telling me that they will be $110 short, we get past that (of course I still have not been paid for that). They call me in May to say the same thing and that his unemployment check finished and that he didn't even have $ to make it to football practice. I told him that I just can not accept that any more. The tenant also had the nerve to tell me that he knows that the reason why I have bad credit is because I can't pay my mortgage on time, so he would help me get my mortgage rate reduced (mind you doesn't know how much mortgage I pay and it's none of his business)! I told him my credit is none of his business and it has nothing to do with the rent and that the reason why I can't pay my mortgage is because THEY are not paying their full rent!!! (my credit was perfect at the point, who does he think he is??? Unbelievable, he's not worried about getting a roof over his head for his fiancés, 2 kids and future baby because I find out she is pregnant), he's worried about $ for football practice!!! Despite his nonsense, during that conversation I offered for them to purchase the home and even offered to help them find a lesser expensive rent (the rent they are paying is only $890 and that money goes directly to pay the mortgage!!!). I told them that I've seen places that had more rooms for lesser money and that I would even pay for a rental truck AND put up the security for them to move IF they come up with the rent to move in some place more affordable. They made it seem as if I was trying to hustle them, I'm like listen, if you can't pay the rent, then something has to give, I can't accept this any more, I was working on getting some repairs done in the home and they were sucking me dry with this rent business, so they paid the rent in full that month. In May I hire a contractor to do the following repairs in the home: fix a window that would not stay up, fix some missing soffit on side of house above their bedroom window, install a new bathroom sink, replace the bathroom shower head and re-tile, installed missing pieces of the backyard fencing, and I even threw in a new front door (because I knew it would make them feel more secure than the wood door that was there). They had requested a new front door after they moved in but I told them that it would not something I could promise them. I got a decent deal so I was able to do it. Then they call me telling me that they are getting bit by "spiders". I'm calling all around town to shop around for exterminators and all who I spoke to said its bedbugs!!! I told the tenants about what I found out and they insisted that it was "spiders". So I told them that it was going to be costly to get rid of "bed bugs" and that I would need the past due amounts of back rent to help me pay for this, so to date this has never been cleared out. After the repairs were done, they contractor called me to tell me what exactly he did and the tenants confirmed the work that was done and said they liked the work, the only problem was that the contractor needed a longer ladder for the soffit and certain pieces for the window that needed to be ordered, so he said he would go back to finish that off. Of course I paid him in full (because he was rather affordable) and did everything in 1 day, but to date he never went back to finish those two items. After trying to get in contact with him numerous times, I realized that I would just need to move on, what ever… so now I get a call from tenants indicating that they will be short $390 on the rent for August and it's just enough for me. So at this point, the fiancé is taking an early leave due to complications with her pregnancy & supposedly he is still not working, but he DOES attend football practice and they are coming at me from the following angle: they can't pay the rent, however there are things I still haven't fixed and they add on a new issue: the central air unit does not work all of a sudden at all! So it's August, they have not paid their $365 water bill (which is under my name BUT it there responsibility to pay according to the lease agreement), they are short on rent and they still have bedbugs, window that hasn't been repaired, soffit not fixed and the new central air issue. I told her/them to sue the two AC units I had left in the attic and that I would look into it, but HOW can I do that if YOU don't pay rent??? I need that money you owe to help me with these repairs. Now they call me in September indicating that they will not be able to pay the rent at all and that they were planning on moving with the help of a friend. So we agreed that they would move at the end of September and I followed that conversation up with a certified letter to convey what we discussed. The next thing you know she sends me an email stating that she has an appointment with emergency assistance and she can't find her copy of the lease so that she may be able to apply. I'm thinking, ok so now AFTER we agreed that you were moving out, now you are trying to stay??? You just switched up on the agreement, so I reply to tell her that I will send the lease, however if that does not work out for them, I will need them to move. Two weeks pass (almost end of September now) and she gets back to me to tell me that they could not assist her because she did not get the lease on time… Sooo, I tell her that I could extend the move out date to 10/15/2010 (her appointment was for 10/7/2010). At this point all I believe that I am doing is extending an agreement she created. If she had just told me in September "we don't have the rent", I could have gone to court right away, instead she said they would be moving, so I didn't begin proceedings. Now I feel as though I am just extending it, but it turns out that after 10/7 she doesn't get back to me, so I
send a certified letter stating "as previously agreed…" they would need to move out by 10/15 (they NEVER disputing the extension on the agreement), they never get back to me when they should, they try to avoid me, so now things have dragged out wayyy tooo long and I go over the home on 10/15 (as previously agreed) to change the locks (of course I KNOW I can't lock them out), but if they haven't gotten back to me, am I to assume they didn't move out? So I go over and of course they are not moving, so we have a discussion and he does the talking, and states the following things (not in this exactly order, but long story short): "I've been doing research on the internet and you can't kick us out, you need to take us to court, we're going to get an inspector in here and we're going to stay here for six months rent free, you haven't done repairs you were suppose to do, we were suppose to pay you by check or money order, not cash into your account, when the contractor did repairs, it is the LANDLORD that is suppose to take care of getting rid of the debris they left behind not the TENANTS, why are you sending us all of these certified letters & I've been talking to people and they say that the last tenants you had did what ever they wanted to!". I was like what???!!! These were my responses: "I'm not kicking you folks out, your fiancés stated you folks were moving and I followed it up with a certified letter, if you feel you need to get an inspector in the home, please do so, in order for me to take care of repairs, you need to come up to speed with the rent you owe, where do you think the money is going to come from??? (although I understand that when the contractor did not finish his work - soffit and window) that would just be my lost and I would need to take care of that again), I didn't force anyone to pay in cash, your fiancé decided that it was more convenient for her to deposit into my account, when the contractor did repairs, I spoke with you on the phone and not once did you mention that there was debris in the back yard, all you had to do was SAY SOMETHING (I'm not a mind reader) and I didn't debris was there, I'm sending you certified letters to ensure we are all on the same page about what was agreed, not to mention that the letter outlines what you have paid in rent since you moved in, and lastly this discussion is about US HERE NOW, NOT about a previous tenant!!! (my previous tenant paid rent on time and passed my home inspection! But that's none of his business!!!). Sooo folks, I had to go down to civil court and file for an eviction, court date in November. And I feel like I'm the worst landlord in the world! Why??? Any thoughts? I obviously made some MAJOR mistakes in dealing with so much and allowing to drag out, but dang… Did I really mistreat them??? Thanks for reading my drama unit series… I look forward to ANY responses, it doesn't matter, tell me off if you want to… but I'm more concerned about the ruling… I don't know what to expect Many thanks…

Wow - that is some post! I won't go into the fact that your message is unreadable as that's stating the obvious. But I would advise that if you want help, be succinct. Nobody wants to read a 3-page stream-of consciousness with no structure.

Like Jon, I got through part of your post and I think that's all I needed to see. His advice as always is spot on - state the simple facts and you will easily get an eviction. 95% of what you wrote is immaterial. Just present to the judge the lease, all payments received, and let that do the talking. Bedbugs, a/c units, etc are not relevant. Don't create drama - which is really what you've done with this post - but just stick to why you want to evict. I might suggest that you have an attorney represent you since they will be well versed in how to act in court. Based on your post, I'm afraid you might ramble and take the focus away from the pertinent facts.

A few thoughts:

1. Unless you change your mindset, you are not cut out to be a landlord. You have been letting your tenant take advantage of you for almost a year now! They should have been evicted 9 months ago. To be blunt, you're not a bad landlord because you neglected to take care of the property or were unresponsive (which seems to be your concern), you're a bad landlord because you let tenants walk all over you.
2. Not only should you be filing for eviction, you should be filing to get a judgment as well. The tenants owe you an amount of money and you can garnish their wages to get that money. I won't go into collectability here as I have yet to collect on any of my judgments but nevertheless, you should do this to show them that you also know the rules and that you mean business.
3. Now this may be reading into your post too much but based on the vivid detail you provided, you are way too emotionally invested. Take a step back and remember that this is a business venture and a business relationship. Deal with each issue independently as it arises and move on. Don't let things build up and make each issue dependent on another. Your ability to make a repair should not be based on the timeliness of a rent payment or the nature of the last conversation you had with your tenant. Fix what *needs* to be fixed, when it needs to be fixed. Ignore the fluff. For example, my tenant would never get a new door.
4. Personally, I'm not a fan of buying/owning rental property without a nice rainy day fund to help take care of repairs, evictions, vacancies, etc. It sounds like you might not have the financial resources to handle the ups and downs of owning a rental property. Only you can judge if you're positioned financially to weather unexpected expenses.
5. If rent on this unit is barely paying the mortgage, it's a losing investment and you should sell it anyway.

I hope I wasn't too harsh. I've been in your shoes too - to an extent. I've let people stay too long, or at I've given incompetent property managers too much autonomy. After a couple evictions, I don't do that anymore. Rent is late on the 5th and notice is posted on the 6th to start the eviction proceeding. No excuses - I don't care about your disability, pregnancy, or any other issue. If your unit requires maintenance, I have that taken care of immediately and it has no connection to you needing to pay rent on time.

Good luck.

I'm sorry, I only made it through about the first 40 lines of that. Paragraphs really are your friend....

Wow - that is some post! I won't go into the fact that your message is unreadable as that's stating the obvious. But I would advise that if you want help, be succinct. Nobody wants to read a 3-page stream-of consciousness with no structure...

Warning: I didn't read the entire post. It's simply too long...

I'm still laughing as I type this. The damn post just keeps going. I've gone back to it three times now and picked up in different spots and had to stop each time. Lol I'm sorry Focus please don't get offended. As a landlord I feel your pain.

The best part is this: "So I go over and of course they are not moving, so we have a discussion and he does the talking, and states the following things (not in this exactly order, but long story short)....

Really? How long is the long story?

The short story is that education is not cheap. If the buyer/renter has no skin in the game you will get burnt. With the next people get a security deposit and a pet deposit and a kid deposit if you have to but don't let these people ruin your credit. Good credit is going to be more important then ever over the next 5 years.

Good Luck!

Agreed with all of the other replies-

Evicting can be VERY stressful and it's compounded by trying to make concessions with tennants that are simply "Bad Tennants"

The anxiety you're feeling is compounded every time you agreed to let them slide on rent and now you have a monster you feel is out of control. If offering them cash to move out will work DO IT!! If you have to evict, try to be as polite and concise as possible. Don't get further involved with any more of the drama and just get the property vacated. You may even tell them you need to evict and have the home vacant to do the repairs required by the city- shift the blame on the city as the badguy and that may help get them out.

In the future, make sure you get 1st+Last Month Rent AND a security deposit (3x Monthly rent amount) If a tennant can't come up that, they're probably not going to be able to pay regularly.

Good Luck!

Patrick K.

Congratulations you have rented to a PROFESSIONAL TENANT. (scammer)

At the first sight of anything you should have filed for eviction.They would have either came in line or you would have gotten them out much sooner than now.

I hope you didn't use an Office Max type lease with holes you can drive a Hummer through.

Welcome to land lording ! No legal advice.

I never made it through the entire post either, but I'm a Trenton landlord and I can recommend an experienced eviction attorney in Trenton and he only charges about $300. He does 40 - 60 evictions a week there. Let a professional handle this.

I evicted a single parent with 3 kids last year. The rent wasn't received on the 1st, and the eviction was filed on the 5th, as soon as legally possible.

Tenant and family were evicted in 8 weeks. It would have been 6 weeks but the judge went on a 2 week vacation (it was August). In any case, the tenant had given me a few excuses...was going to try to get assistance from Catholic Charities, would voluntarily leave the property, etc.

I said that's all well and good, and if things work out before the court date, fine. If not, you can tell it to the judge. Yes, it was very stressful, not because I was evicting someone per se, but because as Mike M. said, they were stealing from me. Not paying the rent, AND not having paid the water/sewer bill which they stuck me with. Not to mention the damages.

I have another tenant in Florida that somehow thought that they had until the 3rd to *mail* the rent to NJ, although they understood it was due on the 1st, per the lease. The first month that I didn't have it on the 3rd, I told them they had to include the late fee. The rent was deposited that night into my account. Same thing the next month. Finally they understood it was DUE on the 1st.

Be nice to your tenants, treat them professionally, but remember - this is a business. They'll pay every other bill before the rent if you let them.

Focus, I had to give you a point, not for the content, but for the longest original post I have ever seen on BP!

Peter & Examine, thank you as well for your time. This really helps me to focu on what I have to do now. Get a lawyer & then sell!!!

Be friendly with tenants, but do not be friends with them.

Focus,

Seems that you will be gaining experience with going through this. My guess is that you had not really learned about all the ins and outs of landlording beforehand. But it's never too late to start your education - and I suggest you just start reading lots of the threads already posted here on BP.

Not all tenants are bad - you just have to learn how to identify the bad ones, and to act swiftly to avoid the bad ones or get rid of the bad ones should you find that one somehow slipped through a thorough screening. And if one slips through the screening, try to identify some change that you would need in your screening practices to prevent that in the future.

in nj, going to court for non payment, first they try a mediator , if you can't work out the situation, then you go in to see the judge. simply tell the judge every month they did not pay their rent, he will want to see their receipts FROM THEM first! very rarely will they(the judge) entertain that "house is horrible crap". they will have til the end of day to pay rent or face eviction(2 more weeks) i never needed a lawyer, and never lost!