I am renting our extra room in my prinary residence in Texas. One of my tenants hasn’t paid anything for last two months. I have tried to communicate with her multiple times. At first she used to ignore my call and text messages. Then she told me she had sent some portion of money by zelle and gave a confirmation number, turns out the confirmation number was fake. Then I was told that she would visit me a day after her payday and make the full payment. She never showed up and is ignoring my calls and text messages now. What do I do? I do not have experience with eviction so any suggestions is highly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
She's not leaving because you don't pose a serious threat to her. You keep texting, she keeps ignoring you, so you text some more. You need to take it seriously.
1. Confirm her belongings are still in her room and she hasn't abandoned.
2. Post written notice on her door, and send a copy to her email/text. Notify her that she has 48 hours to remove all personal belongings and vacate the home or you will consider the room abandoned and dispose of everything.
3. If she leaves, you are done. If she doesn't, remove her belongings. If there's anything of value, lock it up in a storage unit, send her notice, and don't give it back until she pays everything owed, including moving and storage expenses. If she doesn't pay what is owed in 30 days, auction the storage unit off (Storage Auctions .com is a good website with instructions).
Honestly, it feels like one excuse after another. It's getting really frustrating for me.
It's been more than 3 days of providing the eviction notice. Is my next step to go to court?
Yep. She's playing you like an old deck of cards. Until you take charge of your property this will continue because she's in charge. Do you want this to still be going on a year from now or longer? I'd get her out and while it's vacant sell it. You're not really cut out for this business....sorry, just being honest.
Thank you so much. This has truly been a great learning experience. I appreciate your honesty, it helps me to understand my own weaknesses and how to do this better next time.