Evicting Squatters

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Evicting Squatters

Kevin N.
Investor · philadelphia, PA · Member since 2014 · 33 posts · 6 votes

Just got a REO property, the bank never evicted the original owner when the house got foreclosed. Cash for keys did not work. The only way to evict him legally now is go through the court systems but that could take 6 months to a year and $5000. Below are the steps i'm thinking of doing. Please give me the consequences for each of the steps below.

1. SQUATTING THE SQUATTER -Wait when he's not around, change lock, and move my stuff inside the house.  put an alarm on it. When he comes back and call the police and report him trespassing on my house.

2. HIRED A THUG  - Wait when he's not around and break all of the windows, cut wires, copper pipes  and make the house unlivable and too expensive to fix. That will force him out of the house.

3. GLUE THE LOCKS -  Wait when he's not around, put glue into the locks and keep doing it until it's too expensive for him to keep replacing the lock and eventually move out.

Thanks for the inputs !

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Patrick L.
Real Estate Investor · Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 951 votes
11y

All of the above items would be considered "self help eviction" and you would be liable for damages.  Many of those items would probably also result in criminal charges against you. Sounds fun but the law is not on your side until you go through the court system to legally remove the occupant.  This was something to consider prior to buying an occupied property if you were that concerned about how long it it would take and how much it would cost you. 

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  • Richard C.
    Bedford, NH · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Nicole A.:

    Probably no more than $500, and even that seems pretty high to me.  $5000K cash for keys offer is ridiculous. 

     You have no way of knowing that.  You don't know what the rent is, how that compares to market, how much time is left on the lease, anything at all about the tenants personal situation...

    The proper amount to pay for cash for keys is any amount up to the amount, in direct and opportunity costs, that would otherwise be expended in the eviction process.

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  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    @Kevin N.

    I assume the tenant owed you more than $2,500? You only need representation if the tenant owes you more than that amount. If it's less, then you can represent your LLC. Either way, glad you got him out.

    @Richard C.

    Simply put, there is no right answer, but I don't feel my guess was out of line. In the end, it's up to the owner to research and come to his own conclusion. I did not fully look into Philly's eviction laws but there seemed to be tons of info on it on the internet. It seems pretty easy to figure out. The answer is an opinion. Some people completely disagree with paying these types of people a penny because they refuse to "reward" this type of behavior. I'm not sure that Kevin ever told us the rent amount (per month) or not, but if it's in the city, it's probably not that much compared to a higher end unit.

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  • Richard C.
    Bedford, NH · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Yes, it was an opinion.  And not, with all due respect, a very educated one.  As evidenced by, among other things, the fact that it took Kevin $3000 to get it done.

    A blanket statement that $5000 cash-for-keys is ridiculous is...what's the word?...oh yeah...ridiculous.

    People should keep their options open.  And part of that is trying to objectively calculate the value of what you are trying to get from the other party.  You want someone gone, who appears sophisticated enough to know that they can make it cost you $5000 and several months?  Be prepared to offer a lot more than $500 to get it done.

    During the time I was renting, there is no year in which $500 would have induced me to move before the end of my lease.  I realize that is not Kevin's exact situation, but it is analogous.  You want someone to do something they do not have to do, you have to make it worth their while.  Even when it seems unfair.

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  • Kevin Yeats
    Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes
    11y

    From reading various thread here on BP, I have arrived at the conclusion of buying a house with and occupant, especially an occupant without a lease with an expiration date is simply buying someone else's (the seller's) problem.

    While not universal, I have read lots of threads where someone buy's a house and can't get rid of the current occupant, be it the prior owner, as in this example, or a prior tenant who overstayed the lease.

    My conclusion, let the seller get rid of the occupant and provide the buyer with an unoccupied home with clean title.

    My $0.02

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  • Patrick L.
    Real Estate Investor · Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 951 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Kevin Yeats:

    From reading various thread here on BP, I have arrived at the conclusion of buying a house with and occupant, especially an occupant without a lease with an expiration date is simply buying someone else's (the seller's) problem.

    While not universal, I have read lots of threads where someone buy's a house and can't get rid of the current occupant, be it the prior owner, as in this example, or a prior tenant who overstayed the lease.

    My conclusion, let the seller get rid of the occupant and provide the buyer with an unoccupied home with clean title.

    My $0.02

     No, the solution is buy it cheap enough and add value by taking care of the seller's problem.  

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  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    @Richard C.

    It's almost as if I inadvertently pushed a button with you, given your tone towards me.

    You don't know how much rent is missing nor what the rent per month is either, so exactly what information are you going off of? You have no more information to come to a conclusion than I do.

    I doubt the rent per month is $2,500 or more. So, most likely, this went on some time before filing for rent court/eviction. And as I stated to the original poster already, he would be able to represent his own entity himself if the cost was less than $2,500....hence why it's important to take action immediately rather than wait until someone is months behind.

    It'd be great if he'd tell us the monthly rent, but again, I doubt it's a whole lot, so yes, it would not *always* be worth paying some deadbeat tenant a whopping $3,000. And at least in my area, if I were willing, I could offer $500 to someone to move out and some people would indeed find that appealing. 

    Just because someone "appears" sophisticated in rental law doesn't mean they are. I've had unauthorized tenants claim that I couldn't evict them because they weren't on the lease, had mail coming there, and because I (indirectly) accepted rent money from them (they gave cash to my tenant to pay his late rent). As confident as they were, they were wrong and found out the hard way when the Constable kicked everyone to the curb.

    And it "took him" $3,000 to get the guy out? How do you really know that? For all we know, he could have offered $1,000 and the guy might have found that acceptable as well.

    I've done nothing to offend anyone. You have no more information than me, so I'm not sure why you come across so uptight. Enjoy your weekend.

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  • Kevin Yeats
    Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes
    11y

    @Patrick L.

    How much of a discount is enough to "buy it cheap enough" when there is a great uncertainty as to how long it will take to evict the squatter, how much money that eviction will take and how much damage the squatter will do before eventually vacating the property?  All large uncertains.  It could happen tomorrow or it could happen a year from now.

    See Will Barnard's The Occupant from Hell thread.  4 years and Will still has not stepped inside the house he bought ... yet Will has had to pay taxes, insurance and interest on the loan he incurred to purchase the property.

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  • Angie Williams
    Flipper/Rehabber · Bronx, NY · Member since 2016 · 168 posts · 168 votes
    9y
    My partner and I went through this twice in Philly. We had squatters in two of our vacant properties that REFUSED to leave. It cost us close to $4,500 both times to evict them through the court system with a sheriffs eviction. We had to pay not only for all the filing fees, but we were required to hire a moving company for their belongings to be transported to a storage unit WE had to pay for under their name for 1 month. Leave them be or it becomes a civil matter, and in turn is more difficult if you try to remove them with the sheriffs office. As well as it being extremely illegal to even attempt to remove them in any of the examples you mentioned. Unfortunately, squatters and tenants have more rights then landlords. But, cash to move is the best way to go, I'm glad it worked out for you that way. We tried that with both squatters and they refused our money. Although, when all was said and done they defiantly regretted not taking our offer to relocate them on our dollar, they both ended up homeless again.
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