Asked tenant to move out and gave her notice she got a lawyer

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Asked tenant to move out and gave her notice she got a lawyer

Dinali W.
Bethesda, MD · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hello All,

My tenant has refused to pay rent and after repeatedly giving her notice to pay I asked her to leave. She then began accusing me of things I did not do. She said there was a mold infestation in the laundry room, which there was months ago but I took care of it. She is also claiming that there is a bug problem, I have two other tenants but this is the first I am hearing of this. She is also claiming that I have not been a good landlord and have been cursing her in front of her granddaughter. Which I did not. 

She has brought a lawyer in and I just received that official letter. She signed a lease until March 2018 and the letter the lawyer sent is saying that I have no legal right to kick her out. But she's not paying...

She also got the county involved and had them do an inspection which I am not worried about. But now because she didnt pay rent which led to me asking her to leave I had to pay for a lawyer and other expenses. 

What do you advise I do? Am I in the wrong here?

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Thomas S.
Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
9y

Evict.

Your tenants actions are very common and she has been waiting for you to act. Her intension was to stay rent free for as long as possible and this is simply part of the game. You should have started the eviction process the day after she was first late. File immediately and run it through to eviction. 

This is all common procedure when dealing with professional tenants.

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  • Caleb Heimsoth
    Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    9y
    I could be wrong but I'm guessing Maryland is tenant friendly and not landlord friendly. I'd find a good eviction attorney and see what they say.
    0Reply
  • Tim Miller
    Rental Property Investor · Laurel, MD · Member since 2016 · 383 posts · 382 votes
    9y

    I know you don't want to be like this but as soon as they are late on rent, you file with district court. 

    From what you are saying, no you're not wrong.

    Get a good lawyer and file with the court. She not going to make this easy for you. 

    Good luck.

    2Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y

    Evict.

    Your tenants actions are very common and she has been waiting for you to act. Her intension was to stay rent free for as long as possible and this is simply part of the game. You should have started the eviction process the day after she was first late. File immediately and run it through to eviction. 

    This is all common procedure when dealing with professional tenants.

    7Reply
  • Adam Demchik
    Rental Property Investor · Oxford, MI · Member since 2013 · 98 posts · 18 votes
    9y

    @Thomas S.

    I concur.  She is a professional tenant.  I had a similar situation although she was month to month.  After dealing with her for three years (she always paid on time, but complained about everything!) I finally sent her a letter stating that if she wasn't happy living in the apartment then she should leave.  I gave her a 30 day notice with that letter.  She left right at 30 days, but not before trash talking the complex on Facebook and other local site.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    Get a lawyer.  And then, get some good tenant criteria for future applicants, so you don't end up with nightmare tenants in the future.

    1Reply
  • JR T.
    Financial services executive · Frederick, MD · Member since 2015 · 609 posts · 341 votes
    9y

    This is nonsense. You do not need a lawyer. All you need to do is go down to District Court and file a Nonpayment of Rent. It costs a whole $30 including having her served by the sheriff. A hearing will be set within a few weeks. The only issue at bar is whether or not she has paid her rent. She can drone on for two hours about mold and repairs you should have made - it's irrelevant. Her remedy for that is to open a Rent Escrow where she deposits all unpaid rent into the district court for a judge to decide if the repairs are so bad you shouldn't be entitled to some of it- tenants almost never do this. 

    Otherwise after she airs her complaints the judge will tell her about the escrow process and render a judgment on your behalf for the unpaid rent. If she does not pay in 5 days you can file a Warrant of Restitution which will allow you to evict her with the help of a moving crew and the sheriff.

    Very easy process - Maryland is not at all friendly to tenants who have unpaid rent. I've sent 22 year old woman from my office with no experience and she won every case. Do not sweat beating her in this venue, lawyer or no.

    3Reply
  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    9y

    Like @JR T. the eviction process isnt all that hard. If you are in a county that requires a rental license, make sure you have that.  File the failure to pay rent form, show up to court with a ledger of rent payments, print out a copy of your lease, and print out a copy of your emails/txts with the tenant.  The cases are typically decided in just a few minutes. The only caveat to be careful of is if you are in a county that provides a lease that they "suggest" that you use. That suggestion means, if you dont use our lease, we are going to make your life hard.

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