Tenants don't want to move
Investor · Port Jefferson Station, NY · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 12 votes
Do you think your brother would be a better tenant? Is he worth losing out on 6 months of rent plus court costs? Usually renting to family is a bad idea to begin with.
Good luck. I would try to avoid tenants with bad credit in the future. This is what they do.
I believe in finding a win win. The "kick the bums out on the street", does not work for me. This is a long game and relationships and reputation go a long way. I am not advocating that you are taken advantage of, but rather look for the best alternative. Evicting is rarely the best business decision. The tenants want to do something back to you or the property and in the end it becomes more costly. They drag out the process wreck things, etc.
I see three possibilities:
1. Sell the tenant the house. Owner finance or outright. Your brother needs a place to live. Why does it have to be this place. You could directly subside his rental. I assume that is why you are renting to him for a sub market rent.
2. Continue to raise the rent by the maximum allowed by law. They are month to month. I do not believe they have many protections in this area. If they would take a 500 or 700 a month increase, I would consider letting them stay. You could give your brother the money.
3. Cash for keys / eviction
Hi Maria,
As several others have said regarding renting to family, don't do it! I seen many friends go down this path and it ends up being one imposition after another. Saying "Yes" the first time is the gateway to many other imposing requests in the future, where you could potentially end up being the villain of the family if you say"No" to any of it! After all, you are the one living the good life with the extra house on Long Island. It probably doesn't feel that way to you, but others see it that way. The fact that you have let the tenants get away with so much tells me you are maybe a little bit of a pushover. Pushovers become doormats. Don't let that happen to you! Help him in other ways!
As far as the tenants go, I would try to go the win-win route. I know real estate investor recently who purchases foreclosures at auctions and he is also the auctioneer, so he's constantly buying properties. He deals all the time with your situation of people who don't want to move. He tries to go the route of "Hey, don't be upset with me. I'm just the guy who bought this property from the bank." Then he offers the the money he would have spent on the Sheriff to kick them out and a clean up/move out crew to help them move. He says it's a lot easier this way bc he has a crew supervising them while they are moving to make sure they aren't vandalizing the place. He always is concerned with vindictive behavior like pouring concrete down the toilets, stealing appliances etc. Anyway, I thought his take on the matter was very sound. I would have a lawyer deliver this new rather than try to do it myself. They have already shown they will steamroll you given the chance. Take yourself out of the equation.
I wish you good luck!
When it comes to renting to family, as a rule I wouldn't do it. BUT LET ME BE CLEAR, that policy is just around renting in general. For example, if my brother was just looking for a place to live and he could rent anywhere, I would tell him to go elsewhere. No need in causing unnecessary tension by renting to him.
If someone in my family had a special circumstance or was in need (like it sounds like yours is) and I have the ability to help them, I certainly would. It sounds like in your case, someone in your family needs help due to certain circumstances and if you have the opportunity to help them, do it. Family always comes first when there is a true need (in my opinion). *BUT* be prepared to potentially "donate" that rental. If it's a truly dire situation, if you don't "expect" rent to be paid, and are willing to do what you can to help family, there won't be a bad situation. It's the same rule around lending to family. I will never do it unless I am ok with it not being paid back. Again, I would only "lend" if it was a dire situation and they truly needed my help and had no other options.
Stop being so nice. File the eviction today. Not kidding.
@Chris Masons and @Deanna McCormick are both correct. Never give tenants a hard time, and they are tenants, not squatters. You must be civil and follow your state's eviction procedure TO THE LETTER. You told us they have poor credit, you do not want to seller finance to them. I had a tenant tell me they wouldn't move, I had them out in 15 days, and they did end up going voluntarily, but Utah is a Very landlord friendly state.
I'm a little confused about one of your posts. Are they renting a home with no kitchen? What is CO short for? Good luck, a lawyer isn't a bad idea either.
It blows my mind that there are people out there that just say, nope we are not moving. It must be a really nice place.
I know right.....I have one like that now. Sheriff will be escorting her out next week.
Had the sheriff recently escort one of my tenants out. Next day, they drilled through the locks and took it upon themselves to move back in. Some people are insane.
Rebecca,
CO stands for Certificate of Occupancy..
regards,
Chris
It blows my mind that there are people out there that just say, nope we are not moving. It must be a really nice place.
I know right.....I have one like that now. Sheriff will be escorting her out next week.
Had the sheriff recently escort one of my tenants out. Next day, they drilled through the locks and took it upon themselves to move back in. Some people are insane.
WOW! Surely they were arrested after trespassing back into a dwelling they were legally evicted from right??
I don't know that much about evicting tenants, but from everything I've read, and my limited experience (once) you do not want to try to make their lives difficult. That seems to be the number one weapon a tenant has to sue a landlord. I wouldn't even raise rents, as that can be considered retaliatory. Just give them official 30 day notice to leave as allowed by your state (send USPS first class where they have to sign to receive it). Wait until day 31, if they are still there immediately follow the next steps to go to court, and if they still don't move out, the sheriff will do it. It'll probably take 2-3 months, but I think that's your only option. If they damage the home you will have to sue them then for that. It will be very annoying, and cost a few hundred in court fees, but it'll end and you can move on. If the tenants don't bring up the rental license issue, i'm not sure that the court will go to the county and ask, though it's possible. If you have to pay a fine for that then suck it up and pay it, not much you can do there. It isn't the tenants responsibility to make sure you have a rental license, so if you claim the lease if void because of it, I would assume they can sue you. Also pull together every email or picture you have about other issues (late rent, growing pot, etc) in case it's needed in court.
Because you have given your tenants 60 days notice you will have no grounds to evict until that date unless they actually do stop paying rent. If they do not pay March 1st you can start the process but if they pay then they can stay till the end of the 60 days notice.
If they continue to pay rent you can not start the eviction till the 60 days have passed. Add the time to evict and you are in for a long haul.
They told me that they will not be paying me anymore rent and that they can legally stay up to 6 months without paying.
I think you should calmly ask the tenant for the source of that information and then, when no credible source is available, point out that it is not true -- if indeed that is the case in your jurisdiction. I think that even in liberal New York this would be ridiculous.
Maybe the first letter sent certified should come from an attorney? If they think they are just dealing with you they may just dig their heels in. It depends how experienced they are in gaming the system. I think someone else suggested sending the letter via UPS , signature required. That's pretty brilliant Bc many people wouldn't sign for certified US mail if they weren't expecting it knowing that it couldn't be good news!
On another note, you could approach John or Jane Doe and try to divide and conquer them away from tenant #1. If they aren't friends/ relatives you could take a " Look, I know you don't know this but this was an illegal sublet situation . Did they take deposit and security money from you or give you a lease? I can help you." At this point though I would have an authority figure do the negotiating (attorney most likely) Bc you're not getting any respect from Tenant #1. Ask yourself this though- once you get rid of Tenant 2, what's to stop Tenant 1 from putting another sublet ad on craigslist? I know it's financially painful to go the lawyer route, but this is going to take someone with experience in these types of entanglements. A property manger is another thought. It would be worth some more phone calls until you find someone with absolute certainty the most cost effective and expedient way to tackle this problem.
It blows my mind that there are people out there that just say, nope we are not moving. It must be a really nice place.
I know right.....I have one like that now. Sheriff will be escorting her out next week.
Had the sheriff recently escort one of my tenants out. Next day, they drilled through the locks and took it upon themselves to move back in. Some people are insane.
WOW! Surely they were arrested after trespassing back into a dwelling they were legally evicted from right??
That she was. She ended up running out the door before officers arrived, but they found her at her office a week later and took her into custody.
I just went to this nightmare earlier this month; thanks to BP community ... cash for key worked for me.
I offered my tenants cash and they signed docs they took the $$ for their lease termination, changed the lock right after they left, all worked out at the end.
Good Morning BP Family!!
Here's an update on the eviction for future reference:
2/28 Attorney gave the 30 day notice
4/19 Court date #1 - adjourned by their attorney
4/26 Court date #2 - they never showed up in court, neither did their attorney so we got a judgement for the month of March and eviction warrant [according to judge warrant will be delivered to my attorney in 1-2 weeks]
4/27 Their attorney called my attorney to say they had the days 'mixed up' and thought it was on Thursday, they asked for an agreement to pay me whatever they owed and to allow them to stay until June 30th - attorneys agreed but money needed to be delivered within 3 days of signing.
5/10 signed the agreement and gave to my attorney but never gave the money
5/11 Tenants called begging me to give them until the 18th to pay me the rent so they dont get evicted [I never told them that the sheriff didnt even have the papers yet] I told them they would be taking a chance if the sheriff shows up at their door
5/15 FINALLY received warrant of eviction from judge... now need to give to sheriff and pay them $434 but I will wait until Thursday to see if they will really pay
5/17 I called tenants to make arrangements to pick up money. She asked if it could be in the afternoon, I said it has to be before noon. I had a feeling she was just buying more time so I wanted to give me time to drive to the sheriff before it was too late in the day
5/18 Called tenant at 10:15am to see if it was a good time to come and get the money. Her reply? "Last night a friend of mine offered me a place in her house and I was so afraid of the sheriff coming that I took the place and moved. Your key is in the mailbox"
I went to see the house and surprisingly it didnt have holes on the walls or missing windows or doors. Dont get me wrong, I rented a 10 yd dumpster because they left me so much furniture but I was just glad they left. They had rented the basement to a couple who happened to be there when I went there and they had no idea what was happening. Not only were they charging them rent but also 'late fees'. People seem nice enough and told me they are looking for somewhere to go that they just didnt know what was happening the night before when they heard a lot of noise in the middle of the night and they went up and thats when they were told they had to move...
Too many lessons in this for me to even go into farther details. I just thank God I made it through without losing my sanity and at the end, I am still here :) So they lived almost two months free [could have been 3 but the security covered one]. Now lets see if I can really collect the judgement!
It blows my mind that there are people out there that just say, nope we are not moving. It must be a really nice place.
Yeah you got to love those people. We just had an inherited tenants spend 5 months in Virginia fighting to avoid eviction for non-payment. He keep telling the judge he needed leniency, and how it's his home as he lived in it for over 20 years. Kicker is, he never paid rents the entire time, and acted like it was his right to live in the home. He gave us a run for our money thats for sure, finally is lease ran out and we dropped kicked him to the curve in the court room.