Evict Tenant after Search Warrant?

Question

A tenant's unit was searched today (10 COP CARS WERE ON PROPERTY).  We found out for possible stolen property.

Both of the resident's do NOT have a felony or anything really on their background check.

What are your thoughts?  3 Day to comply and then Evict? I can look over our lease, but my thoughts are that until this person is found guilty, what grounds are we going to evict this person on?

Greg H. · Answer

Nathan- You can put anything you want to in your lease and even if it is agreed to by the tenant doesn't mean it will stand up.  What if the tenant fire a gun to defend themselves?  I would say you would find no precedent for evicting a tenant caught with drugs off premises

While I understand your potential concerns, we as landlords do not have the ability to guide our tenants moral compass

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I have a clause in my lease that states criminal activity is grounds for eviction and does not require conviction in court. If a tenant fires a gun on the premises and it shows up in the police report, I will file for eviction. If they are caught with drugs somewhere off the premises, I will evict.

I would contact the police and try to find out if any stolen goods were recovered. If so, I would evict them. Could they push back and fight it? Absolutely! Would they win? Possibly. But I would still give them an eviction notice and try. Most will walk away, particularly if they know they are guilty of a crime.

Michael Julian · Answer

Anyone here is one accusation away from having a search warrant served on their property. I would wait for a conviction or a plea before taking action.

Account Closed · Answer

none cops make mistakes innocent until proven guilty

Greg H. · Answer

@Patrick Soukup

I was more referring to Nathan's both but my experience is that evictions for other than non payment of rent are never a guarantee and your lawyer seemed hedge their bet with the "most likely"

I envision the mother walking into court with kids in tow and explaining that they are 2 months ahead in the rent and they have no place to go and the kids will have to change schools and on and on

Andy Luick · Answer

@Patrick Soukupyou've got tenants who have already paid 2 months in advance....while awesome in itself.....usually only problem tenants do that...but if the boyfriend is/was the issue and he's gone...sounds like problem fixed.  Single Moms can be the best renters because most landlords won't take them and they know that....plus they will usually do what they can to keep a roof over the kid's head.  We don't do much of this anymore in shared housing but have one currently that is all single Moms each with 1 child in one of the best school districts.  You've gotten some good advice here.

As someone else said, you can put all kinds of things in  the lease that may or may not be legally enforceable....thing is, most tenants aren't going to fight you on it and will simply move on.

Patrick Soukup · Answer

Nathan G. above is an update to this point.

Wayne H. · Answer

I agree that eviction for anything other than non-payment can be a royal pain depending on the politics of the area you're in. However, I also put the criminal activity clause in my leases too. A property close to one of mine was nearly boarded up after the tenants were selling coke under the landlord's nose.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Greg, I probably wasn't clear enough in that last post. If it were me, I would serve them with a notice to vacate. If they refuse to leave, I would probably drop the issue but keep a very close eye on them. I would not recommend pushing for a formal eviction through the court because you may very well lose, even in a Landlord-friendly community like mine.

By the way, my clause was put in by a local real estate attorney and he has successfully used it in court. I've used it twice and both tenants willingly left so I have never personally tried it in court.

Andy Luick · Answer

It honestly doesn't take much to get a warrant here in the states.  As long as they uphold their end of the lease, you can't do much with them...nor should you if you haven't had any other trouble with them.  We had someone recently get arrested for theft...his crime you ask?  He drove away from a meeting with his ex and she left her purse in the backseat of his car.  He was arrested and is in court with it now.  This is just the system at work.  I would certainly meet with the tenants, express your concerns and get an explanation.  Let us know how it works out.

Evict Tenant after Search Warrant?

Most Popular Reply