Should I file eviction on Tenant of new property I just acquired?

[David He]

Hello fellow landlords,

My wife and I are new landlords. We just bought our first rental property last week and inherited the previous tenants. We've read the multi-family millionaire book and are planning to apply the house hacking strategy by moving into one of the units while renting the other unit. 

The unit we're planning to move into is occupied by a tenant on a month-to-month lease and we already gave her a 30-day notice that we will not be renewing the lease. Her last day will be February 21, 2022. 

I spoke to her for the first time yesterday, and she agreed to the move out date and agreed to Venmo me rent on that day. Technically, her rent was already past due since she was supposed to pay by the 5th of the month. But I figured maybe with the change of ownership, she decided to pay the new landlord directly.

However, after receiving no rent and no reply after I sent her my Venmo account, I sent her another message today asking if she got my last message and reminding her to make the rent payment asap. Still, no reply and no payment.

I'm a bit concerned by this behavior as I don't know if she plans to refuse to pay rent because she only has a month left figured she can live for free. While I do have her security deposit from the previous landlord but I don't want to use that as rent since it would not cover any damages. 

From what I've read about eviction in my state (South Carolina), I need to first give a 5 day notice for non-payment of rent before filing a lawsuit for eviction. And any eviction would most likely occur after February 21st, which is when she was supposed to move out anyway. I hate to go through all this trouble to get her out when she is already supposed to get out. 

But on the other hand, since she didn't honor her word about paying me rent yesterday, I don't want to take the chance that she would still remain on the property by the time that my wife and I ready to move in. And also, if she got an eviction on her record, it would help protect future landlords from renting to her.

If this were your tenant, would you file for eviction for non-payment when she was supposed to move out anyway? 

Thanks!
David

[Greg Scott]

Your worst case is she doesn't move out when she says and you have to file for possession.  Which means you'll get the unit back a few weeks after you thought you would.

I'd follow the language of your contract and send her a 5 day notice today.  If you still don't hear anything in 5 days, find a local eviction attorney and start the eviction process.  It will likely save you money in the long run.

[Jay Hobdy]

im a newb investor but own an unrelated business that does service and installations for commercial clients.

one thing i know is you have to follow the process. This is why we have contracts.

Follow the contract and do what you need to do to get her out. 

Spend a little now, or possibly spend more later.

[Ron Brady]

I'd move to evict.  Broken promises to pay and, it appears, little to lose?  That is too risky to not take action for me.

[Nathan Gesner]

@David He You are likely correct that she intends to not pay the last month of rent, thinking you'll use the deposit. That won't cover cleaning and repairs, but those costs are generally minimal, so the odds of losing much are pretty small. On the other hand, there's a chance she may stay after her termination date and that could become costly.

My policy is to start the eviction process once a tenant is 10 days late. I can always drop it if the Tenant pays or moves out. By serving the 5-day Notice now, you put her on notice that you're serious. If she fails to leave at the termination date, then you can immediately file in court since you don't have to wait for the 5-day Notice step. Odds are very good she will leave by the move-out date, or that she'll leave after being served a court notice. When she leaves, you can stop your eviction process and move on.

[Jason Albasha]

Start the process. Usually the letter will scare them enough. At the same time, you might be best offering cash-for-keys. 

Explain that it isn't the usual situation yet you need to move in because you bought as owner occupied and the bank requires you to occupy the unit so you're willing to offer her some cash. Make sure to explain that if she doesn't move, that you will file for eviction and see it through, and that you'll ensure this is on her record and will follow her around for the rest of her life.

Most tenants are reasonable and, they think they can get away with a month for free, yet when they hear that this will follow them for life they realize it's not worth a free month of rent. 

[Matt Devincenzo]

Your post isn't clear...is the rent she is paying for Jan or is it the last month's rent for Feb? If Jan then yes you need to file the eviction. I'd start with the notice, and a follow up text and see where it goes from there. If it is Feb, then even if she said she would pay now, it isn't actually late and you need to wait until after the first to do anything. 

[Scott M.]

You 100% w/o question need to start the process.  Stop reading BP and that going right now, seriously.  

You need to send an end date to the games.  The longer you wait the longer you may wait.  You don't know her intentions and will never figure them out.  All you can do is control your side and to protect your downside you must start the process.  If she pays and then moves out on time, great, you still did the right thing by starting the process.  

[David He]

Hi everyone, thank you all for the great replies. To the person who asked which month of rent she is paying, it's the January rent. 

It seems unanimous that I should file eviction. Looking at this from a purely business perspective, it's certainly the right thing to do. 

That was the direction I was also leaning in but I decided to do one more thing prior to this. I called the previous seller and asked her what was her experience with the tenant.

To my surprise, it was quite positive. The previous landlady (seller) told me that the tenant was communicative, honest, and usually paid her rent on time. And when she couldn't pay, it was usually due to some major event such as an accident, and she would always communicate it. 

And right now, there are two major events that could impact her ability to pay. There is a major snow storm in the East Coast, and she is at home taking care of a granddaughter with Covid. The previous landlady advised me to ask that if it would be easier if I had someone come by her house to pick up the rent in cash. And if I plan to file for eviction, to let her know first so she can try to reach out to her previous tenant to resolve the issue. 

I think I'll follow the previous landlady's advice and give my tenant some extra time to reply and get her business in order. However, I'll be mailing her a 5-day notice first thing tomorrow for non-payment of rent so that if I still get nowhere, I can file for eviction right away. 

[Mark B.]

@David He

Don’t ever ever ever pick up rent in cash. More than one landlord or their agent has ended up dead that way.

[David He]

Update: this morning my tenant Venmo'd me the rent. She didn't offer much explanation, except that she was at work yesterday and couldn't answer my call. I was thinking to myself, what about all the texts I sent you? 

I was just about to mail her the 5-day notice but luckily the post office was closed yesterday so I didn't send it. Now I don't think we will have an issue with her moving out by the February 21st and I'm relieved we will not have to evict her.

Thank you for everyone's replies. When I start the new lease with the next future tenant, I'll be sure to keep your comments in mind and I'll also be adding a late payment clause to the lease to encourage timely payment.

[Scott M.]

@David He I am glad you had this outcome and hope the 21st goes the same way for you.  If you walk away from this experience thinking that not filing the 5 day notice the day the rent is late though you learned the wrong lesson.