Nightmare Tenant: Help!
Anti-social personalities (aka sociopaths) can fool the best of us but I ignored the red flags, so this is on me. "Kathy" is a 32 yr. old dog groomer who moved into my 1864 walk-up in early March. Her first month's rent/security deposit check bounced. She apologized crocodile tears. I told her I would need a cashier's check from her bank. She calls to tell me she has mailed me a "money order" and I should get it before Easter, but "the mail runs late" during the holidays so it may take a few more days. Eh heh. The money order never arrived. She declares it has been stolen! She must put a trace on it and I will get my rent and deposit once it is traced, which can take a few weeks. Wrong! I tell her I am starting eviction proceedings. Crocodile tears and begging. I tell her legally she has ten days to pay and so, on the tenth day she drives on my doorstep and gives me a cashier's check. Anyone getting a migraine yet?
Her background check came back with some misdemeanor traffic tickets. The background check failed to mention she was wanted for fraud and theft. Basically, on several occasions she has taken customer's cards and charged thousands of dollars. I personally talked to an 80 year old woman yesterday who told me she had been charged a total of $4,080 (just under grand theft) through several transactions. The elderly woman had her dog groomed once and she gets charged $4,080 over ten separate transactions? Her bank refunded her and the police said it was fraud but my tenant has not been arrested. Another customer paid $40 for her dog to have a bath and her card was charged $400! Kathy claimed, "Opps! I don't know how that extra zero got on there!" The lady has not be reimbursed.
Two days ago I received a call from a neighboring tenant who reported "Kathy's" dog was being left in the apartment for 12+hours at a time and the smell of dog feces in the common hallway was so bad it was unbearable. She reported garbage being left in the common hallway for days (no trash in hallway!) with dog food spilled through a spilled bag. Another tenant complained the dog cried and howled all night from being alone they never got any sleep. One tenant sent me an audio of the dog crying outside Kathy's door and honestly, guys, I couldn't listen to it.
I contacted the Humane Society and the officer told me the dog was being neglected and abused. His advice, however, was to attempt to evict her on the clause in my lease where she has disturbed the "quiet enjoyment" of the other tenants. He stated, however, if he needed to come in, he would.
I have gotten advice from other landlords telling me to send her a registered letter stating she had 48 hours to remove the dog (based on x, y, z) or the eviction process would begin. I would feel better about everything if I got advice from you guys. Please don't slap my hands too hard. I have beaten myself up plenty. Thank you in advance. Francie