Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 38 posts · 11 votes
I have tenants whom lost there jobs and failed to pay rent. No one wants to spend extra money and time to file an eviction law suit. Do I talked to the tenants and asked them to sign a termination of lease contract and gave them a week to get out. A week passed and I had the locks changed. A nearby tenant called me saying that there was somebody in the home. So I called the police and a family friend (I'm out of town for work) to meet the police over there. It was the tenant of course. She has two warrants out for her arrest. Cops claimed they cant do anything about the situation. Not even arrest her for her warrants. They stated it's a civil matter and they can not enforce contracts.
I find this to be a load of ********. Any thoughts?
How is a rental contract enforceable but not a termination of lease contract?
The fact that they didn't arrest her on her outstanding warrants doesn't say a lot about the police in your area.
You need to start an eviction. If you don't know how, there are companies that will do it for you. Given she has warrants out for her arrest, I doubt that telling her you are starting an eviction will get her to move on her own. Once you have the eviction, then depending where you are, the police can become involved. My understanding is in some places in the US, the sheriff's office will show up on the day and make sure everything is moved out.
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
We are now on page 2 of comments, did I miss what state the property is located in ? Anyone making comments without knowing the laws of that state is a pure guess
Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
7y
@Allan R. why are you messing with this if you have a PM? This is why people have PM's so they do not have to work or worry about this stuff. When I utilized PM's this is exactly why they were paid the big bucks! They had the legal connections, the forms, and knew what to file and when. Let/make them do their job.
Rancho Cucamonga, CA · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 7 votes
7y
@Allan R.
You aren't going to like this answer. But it hopefully will make sense and you resolve it quickly.
I am a cop and I would have done the exact same thing. The call for service is a civil matter because it relies on a contract. You need a court order evicting individuals who have established even the most rudimentary residency. Go get an eviction ASAP. Don't waste time.
As for the warrants you state exist. They are probably misdemeanor warrants (Which in CA require the subject to be in public, not inside their residence) or low level offense like traffic violation. They can easily receive a new citation and court date to appear. Be grateful the local PD is prioritizing active crime. Your tenants will get their turn in the system (PS that also costs you more in taxes to cycle half the population into the criminal justice system).
@Damaso Bautista I have a stongggg feeling the warrants were out of a different state and no extradition. It always amazes me people get into being land lords without understanding state laws thoroughly and who can do what. This just sounds like a painnnnnful lesson
Its not just in landlording! I think society in general does not understand the law and how police officers do their jobs.
Based on the limited information that was presented in the original post I am very confident that the officers made the right call.
Roseville, CA · Member since 2018 · 29 posts · 40 votes
7y
@Allan R. I don’t know what state you’re in But Most answers regarding law enforcement matters start with “Well it depends.......” because not all situations are the same. They’re could be many reasons why they didn’t arrest your tenant at the time. But even if they did arrest her that may not be a solution to your problem. She could be out in a couple of hours and back at the property. If you call the law enforcement agency and ask for a watch commander you could possibly get a little more information to help you understand what happened and why. Be polite if you really want more information. This information could help you out in the future should another unfortunate problem arise. Calling another law enforcement agency will not get you anywhere. Law enforcement does not handle civil matters however most county sheriff departments handle evictions.
Evict the tenant. Call law enforcement again IF she is trespassing. And Good luck.
Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Each municipality has its own law. I can tell you this is hardship what you have done is not proper in CA. You need in our area going to Superior Court getting property documentation, serving notices. The court is often on the tenants side and hardship matters. You need to go through the proper channel with attorney and his eviction team involvement. Experienced tenants can sue the landlord make the situation difficult and impossible to recover.
We are now on page 2 of comments, did I miss what state the property is located in ? Anyone making comments without knowing the laws of that state is a pure guess
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
So being in Texas makes a huge difference in this discussion . Texas law does give the Landlord the ability to change the locks and deem a property abandoned and take possession. I might have handled the situation differently:
-An eviction in Texas only takes +-21 days at a cost of +-$150. The process is straightforward . I would have begun the process immediately as with no jobs there is no payment
-Once they signed the agreement and moved most of their stuff out, I would have looked at factors such as the utilities being off and neighbors have not seen them so as to deem the property abandoned. Texas law does not clearly define abandonment but those are some of the criteria along with a signed agreement would have been good enough for me. Once I changed the locks , I would have taped a letter to the door stating such along with a no trespassing sign. Would this have changed the police actions? Possibly
Is they are still in possession now, begin the eviction process today
Rental Property Investor · Sedan, KS · Member since 2016 · 125 posts · 92 votes
7y
@Braden Downs lol. I'm not a cop. And situations like this are exactly why. I dispatched and was a jailer. I've been a reserve officer. I wanted to be a cop to help people. As it turns out it's just 10% office politics and 90% adult babysitting.
Try calling them a couple more times. They'll likely arrest someone in there just to get the calls to stop.
Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
7y
@Allan R. I would recommend you spend some time getting familiar with landlord tenant law. If you are going to be in business, it is your job to know the law. As others stated, police do not enforce contracts. There could be a squatter living in your property and if they told the police "I am a tenant", the police would not be able to do anything.
Given the low cost and fast time line of evictions in Texas, you should always just evict in a situation of non-payment. Eviction is the only way to legally regain rights to your property and eviction is enforceable by the police. Make sure you evict named tenant AND all other occupants. That covers you in case some random person claims they live there.
If you did consider the tenant as abandoning the property and leaving possessions there, then you should remove the belongings at the same time you change the locks. Check your state laws, but usually if it is considered garbage, you can just throw it out. Over a certain dollar value, you usually need to put it in storage.
In this case removing the possessions would have helped, because I am guessing the tenant told the police, "I live here and pointed to their belongings". It is harder to claim you are a tenant when a property is completely vacant.
Also as others mentioned, changing locks when a tenant has not left can be considered illegal eviction. Be careful how you explain that in court.
The other question here is why your property manager didn't tell you calling the police would not be effective. Maybe you didn't call them? Either way, I don't think your PM handled this very well.
Specialist · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 13 posts · 4 votes
7y
@Damaso Bautista
That is slightly inaccurate. A warrant is an order signed by a judge, and a police officer has no discretion on weather or not to enforce that. Your state most likely has a code in their statue that states an officer will enforce all misdemeanors and higher. A code such as that helps keep policing impartial. An officer’s discretion applies to violations which are petty offenses. I.E. turn signal, stop sign, etc.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 38 posts · 11 votes
7y
Court is Monday, really cant wait to get this girl out. She is running me $950 monthly losses. Filing the law suit I was only allowed to sue for possession. After possession has been claimed back to me I then can file another law suit, small claims, of the rent she has not paid and any other damages. For me to go through with this it will run me a total of $1040. She owes me $1900. Is it even worth investing the next $560 in the second law suit to claim $900 of rent? I keep hearing that even if a tenant loses in court and is ordered to pay me the rent she owes that seeing the money is slim to none.
I have been held accountable for my actions my whole life. I expect my tenants to be accountable too. This is a form of theft in my eyes.
Why do you believe you can only bring suit for possession and not obtain a judgement for past due rent? The Judge should order possession and rent due but will not grant damages and late fees. Keep in mind that Monday may not be the end as it will be until the 6th day after that you can file for the Writ of Possession(forced move out)
Once she is out, my best advice is to focus on getting the property cleaned up and rented to minimize your losses. In Texas, there is very little chance you will ever collect a judgement. Do a search for "property exempt from a judgement in Texas" and you will see the list is extensive and unless they own rental property or expensive toys(difficult) you will not collect unless they decide to pay. Wage garnishment is also not allowed in Texas
@Allan R. I don't understand why the police cannot arrest her? You seem don't have the experience about evicting and don't know the details about it. Just consult a professional lawyer and start the evicting process. I understand you may be confused and get stuck in the situation, but under professional guide, you'll soon understand the whole process.