Change of Pland after notice to vacate was given

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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

Hello,

I have a tenant that has become very disgruntled after he broke a toilet and had to pay for the repairs. Our relationship has declined and has become pretty toxic. We had a two year lease, but I managed to reason with him and he has signed a month to month addendum and agreed to look for another place to live. He has become more hostile and has been harassing my contractors and has become very disrespectful. It was always my intention to give him as much time as he needed to find another place to live under the month to month addendum as long as he gave me 60 days notice. But he is becoming more and more difficult to deal with so I gave him 100 days notice about 15 days ago to vacate the property.

He informed me last month that there are signs of water damage in the bedroom and it took him 3 weeks to give us permission to enter the property. Since I do not have any money to make the fixes I will need to do a cash out refinance to correct the issue and to replace the roof. I am worried that he will try to sabotage my appraisal if he is in the property and I really need to fix the issue of moisture ASAP. I would like to have him out of the property so that I have access to fix things and not have to work around his schedule. Since he agreed to move out already, is it legal to change my mind about the original 100 days notice and change it to 30 days? In PA a landlord only needs to give 30 days notice for a month to month tenant. My worry is that I already gave him 100 days to move out, can I modify that now and ask that he leaves sooner so that I can tend to my property sooner?

Thanks in advance for your input.

If he refuses to agree to a 30-day notice, tell him you can't do the repairs until he vacates. If he complains, tell him you will have to declare the property uninhabitable and force him to move out.

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Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

4y

@Jesenia Peralta

The problem is that you would need to change his notice now from 85 days to 15 days. No, you can't do it in PA. You CAN change it to 30 days starting from now, but not 15, as you are planning to do. One notice supersedes another. It can't borrow credit in the form of days from the former notice.

There was no need to sign any sort of month-to-month addendum. After a lease is over in PA it automatically changes to a month-to-month lease.

If you are reduced to having to do a cash-our refinance in order to fix a roof, you have been running your rental property with sharply insufficient reserves. You need to rectify this or it will eventually break you when you don't get lucky.

There are easier ways to borrow short-term money for something like this than doing a cash-our refinance. Find a roofing company who accepts credit card payments. Put the repair on your card. Then apply for a balance transfer card that will allow you 18 months of zero interest as long as you pay 3% extra on a balance when you transfer it. Put the balance for the roof repair on the new card as soon as it comes through and spend the next few months paying it off.

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Jesenia Peralta

OP

Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote

4y

Quote from @Jim K.:

@Jesenia Peralta

The problem is that you would need to change his notice now from 85 days to 15 days. No, you can't do it in PA. You CAN change it to 30 days starting from now, but not 15, as you are planning to do. One notice supersedes another. It can't borrow credit in the form of days from the former notice.

There was no need to sign any sort of month-to-month addendum. After a lease is over in PA it automatically changes to a month-to-month lease.

If you are reduced to having to do a cash-our refinance in order to fix a roof, you have been running your rental property with sharply insufficient reserves. You need to rectify this or it will eventually break you when you don't get lucky.

There are easier ways to borrow short-term money for something like this than doing a cash-our refinance. Find a roofing company who accepts credit card payments. Put the repair on your card. Then apply for a balance transfer card that will allow you 18 months of zero interest as long as you pay 3% extra on a balance when you transfer it. Put the balance for the roof repair on the new card as soon as it comes through and spend the next few months paying it off.

Thank you , Jim. I am not giving him 15 days notice. I will be asking him to leave in 30.

Thank you for the advice for funding.

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Jesenia Peralta

OP

Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote

4y

Quote from @Jim K.:

@Jesenia Peralta

The problem is that you would need to change his notice now from 85 days to 15 days. No, you can't do it in PA. You CAN change it to 30 days starting from now, but not 15, as you are planning to do. One notice supersedes another. It can't borrow credit in the form of days from the former notice.

There was no need to sign any sort of month-to-month addendum. After a lease is over in PA it automatically changes to a month-to-month lease.

If you are reduced to having to do a cash-our refinance in order to fix a roof, you have been running your rental property with sharply insufficient reserves. You need to rectify this or it will eventually break you when you don't get lucky.

There are easier ways to borrow short-term money for something like this than doing a cash-our refinance. Find a roofing company who accepts credit card payments. Put the repair on your card. Then apply for a balance transfer card that will allow you 18 months of zero interest as long as you pay 3% extra on a balance when you transfer it. Put the balance for the roof repair on the new card as soon as it comes through and spend the next few months paying it off.

Jim, the repairs are substantial, new roof will be $10.5k to replace. The repairs inside and getting the house ready for a new tenant will be another $5k. Although I have saved some money for repairs I have not put together that kind of money. The property has appreciated substantially. Comps show the property is worth about 140 now I owe 67.

1 Reply

Jesenia Peralta

OP

Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 1 vote

4y

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Jesenia Peralta:

Hello,

I have a tenant that has become very disgruntled after he broke a toilet and had to pay for the repairs. Our relationship has declined and has become pretty toxic. We had a two year lease, but I managed to reason with him and he has signed a month to month addendum and agreed to look for another place to live. He has become more hostile and has been harassing my contractors and has become very disrespectful. It was always my intention to give him as much time as he needed to find another place to live under the month to month addendum as long as he gave me 60 days notice. But he is becoming more and more difficult to deal with so I gave him 100 days notice about 15 days ago to vacate the property.

He informed me last month that there are signs of water damage in the bedroom and it took him 3 weeks to give us permission to enter the property. Since I do not have any money to make the fixes I will need to do a cash out refinance to correct the issue and to replace the roof. I am worried that he will try to sabotage my appraisal if he is in the property and I really need to fix the issue of moisture ASAP. I would like to have him out of the property so that I have access to fix things and not have to work around his schedule. Since he agreed to move out already, is it legal to change my mind about the original 100 days notice and change it to 30 days? In PA a landlord only needs to give 30 days notice for a month to month tenant. My worry is that I already gave him 100 days to move out, can I modify that now and ask that he leaves sooner so that I can tend to my property sooner?

Thanks in advance for your input.

If he refuses to agree to a 30-day notice, tell him you can't do the repairs until he vacates. If he complains, tell him you will have to declare the property uninhabitable and force him to move out.

Thanks Nathan.

0 Reply

Patti RobertsonBusiness Member

Property Manager · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

4y

I'm not sure what the market is like in PA, but where I am operating, it is literally impossible for a tenant to find something and move out with 30 day notice. There just isn't enough property available. My lease also allows us to give 30 day notice, but we would only do that with a hostile tenant we felt would hold over anyways. The shortest notice period will get us into court the quickest. Of course we prefer to avoid court, so if it was a tenant we though did want to move and it was just a matter of finding something, we would give a minimum of 60 day notice. Personally, given what you described, I would not change your notice. What I would do is accompany the appraiser when they walk the property. Give him/her a heads up as to what is going on. Appraisers aren't stupid.

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Matt Devincenzo

Investor · Clairemont, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes

4y

You need to completely rethink how you're handling this situation. You do not need the tenant's permission to come inside the unit. You give them a 24-48 hour notice, and then you can show up and enter. If they refuse entry you provide legal notices and then evict if needed. Obviously it is preferred if you can work with them, but in this situation it doesn't seem like you can and trying to is damaging your property.

As far as funding, I'd skip the cash-out for several reasons. I'd consider a personal loan first, just because it is very fast and minimal documentation to get 10-15K. I wouldn't worry about the interest rate just getting the repairs done ASAP, and then you can work on other funding to close the personal loan. The other better loan option would be a HELOC, but you will still need an appraisal and it will take several weeks to close. It's possible you could have a personal loan next week, and make at least the roof repairs before the end of the month. That take some pressure off while you work on implementing your new approach I mentioned above.

1 Reply

Steve Vaughan

Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes

4y

Quote from @Jesenia Peralta:

Hello,

I have a tenant that has become very disgruntled after he broke a toilet and had to pay for the repairs. Our relationship has declined and has become pretty toxic.

Sorry you are facing this.

Not that this wouldn't have devolved down to where it is anyway maybe, but the spark of it sounds silly. Making tenants pay for little stuff can cause a lot of problems.

I just take care of the smalls like replacing a stupid toilet or giving more of a deposit refund back than most would for serenity. I hope you find some of your own soon.

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Change of Pland after notice to vacate was given

Change of Pland after notice to vacate was given

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