Rented to a friend...verbal contract, trying to evict

Rented to a friend...verbal contract, trying to evict

Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 0 votes

I apologize if this isn't the proper place to post this but I don't really know where else to turn.

My friend and I decided to invest in a house. I bought the house and he rents out the basement. The original verbal agreement was to live there for a year to avoid short term capital gains tax, then sell the place.  There was an unfinished room in the basement. The agreement was he would re-carpet the basement and hang drywall in one room. In return, I gave him a total of $1200 in discounts on rent. A few months later I see his girlfriend start making social media posts about moving to another state. At that time, the weekend of July 20, I requested at least 60 days of notice and that the basement be finished before he moves out and he agreed. On August 1 he notifies me that he intends to move out within 30 days and he'll "try" to finish the carpet in one room before he leaves. 

He's paid pretty much half rent for all 4 months he's been here and it's all been predicated upon doing one project or another. Some of them have been done but the expensive ones have not. I notified him by text message that he is in violation of our verbal agreement and that I am legally required to give him 72 hours to vacate the premises. The texts are the only written communication about the lease that we have. He maintains that because he's paid rent for August and there's no written contract that he would renovate anything I can't legally evict him. My understanding of the law was that tenants had to honor verbal agreements. I have provided him with verbal notice in the past that he is not in compliance with the terms of his stay here--he hasn't mowed the lawn or finished many other projects he said he would.

The drywall is hung in the basement but the unfinished room isn't carpeted and the basement hasn't been re-carpeted either. There are details I'm forgetting but I'm honestly upset and have had to type this out twice. Am I toast? 

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Investor · The Creek, WV · Member since 2014 · 890 posts · 1k+ votes
7y

Just chalk it up as a cheap lesson. Never mix business with friends/family and always get a written contract. It's not really worth it to pursue this imo. Cut your losses and move on. 

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  • Investor · The Creek, WV · Member since 2014 · 890 posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Just chalk it up as a cheap lesson. Never mix business with friends/family and always get a written contract. It's not really worth it to pursue this imo. Cut your losses and move on. 

  • Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    Thanks Derrick. I might have to do that but this isn't really all that cheap of a lesson relative to my pocketbook!

    I forgot to mention a couple of things--we live in the house together, in case that wasn't clear. He uses drugs in the house and used threatening language when I let him know I wanted him out. I need him out of there so I can finish the basement and get it in liveable condition ASAP. Can I leverage any of those things?

  • Investor · The Creek, WV · Member since 2014 · 890 posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Jamon Cline I hear ya man. I just meant cheap in the grand scheme of things. Best you can hope for is to look at your local/state laws. Give proper notice to evict and go from there. Might be best to seek a free consultation from a lawyer. Document everything and learn from all of this. 

  • CA & NV · Member since 2019 · 215 posts · 378 votes
    7y

    You are going to take a hit on this. Verbal agreements are useless (he said/she said). Give him some cash to move out. Suck it up and move on. Lesson learned. 

  • Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    7y

    @Jamon Cline

    "Everything verbal-verbal, but I want to see carpet-carpet go down and drywall-drywall go up that I can touch-touch."

    Not gonna happen, Jamon. The law is on the side of the guy with the best documentation. You're not going to hand your phone to a magistrate and ask him to look at your text messages and get anywhere.

  • Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Jamon Cline:

    At that time, the weekend of July 20, I requested at least 60 days of notice and that the basement be finished before he moves out and he agreed. On August 1 he notifies me that he intends to move out within 30 days and he'll "try" to finish the carpet in one room before he leaves. 

    .  

    So I thought he was leaving, but you wanted the work done first.  Now he's not leaving and not doing the work while doing drugs?  Drug guys respond to cash and cops.  Carrot or stick baby.  You gone either way. You have more leeway as your primary residence than you would a straight rental.  

    Here's the valuable lesson you are learning cheaply.  It's more important to gain repossession of your property than pretty much anything.  If you play the landlord game for any amount of time you will come to realize this, look back on this and go whoa.  I can't believe I wanted that rat to stay so he could tape and texture and lay carpet badly while high because I felt cheated out of $1200 or whatever. What was I thinking? 

    The other valuable, life-long lessons as Derrick and Jim mention, are: 1) Don't be the landlord of friends you want to keep, and 2) Verbal agreement in RE aren't worth the paper they're not written on.  

    You'll get past this and look back someday and laugh.  We've all learned some tough lessons early in. Hang in there. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Troy · Member since 2017 · 175 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    Treat this as a cheap lesson.  Verbal contracts are worthless.  Just make a mental note of your losses and move on.

    I used to take in homeless youths and tried to help them get their lives started.  As a result, I have lost thousands over the years.  Until my husband made me stop LOL.  My point is don't dwell on your losses.  Plan out how to deal with it and move on with your life.  Trust me, if you learn how to move on without dwelling on the broken promises, you will fair a lot better than the people who have done you wrong.

    Case in point.  One guy who still owes me a couple thousand dollars is now living in his truck.  Another guy who still owes me $3k (my younger idealistic self tried to help him get on his feet) has now been in and out of jail and never managed to get off probation.  I on the other hand have moved on to owning enough rental properties to have replaced my full time job as an engineer.  

    In other words, plan it out where this incident will be a reminder for you but in the grand scheme of things is just a blip.

    Edit.

    Yes, my younger idealistic self made many mistakes.  No need to attack please.

  • Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Lam N.:

    I used to take in homeless youths and tried to help them get their lives started.  As a result, I have lost thousands over the years.  Until my husband made me stop LOL. Don't dwell on your losses.  

    I was talking to a friend once outside a restaurant.  He suddenly goes "There's that a**hole ex-sponsee I lent money to when he first got sober. He owes me $20.00!"  He then runs after him, has a heated confrontation comes back and tries to tell me about how cheated he feels.

    I cut him off.  'Dude. There's a guy that owes me $6400.  6 others that owe me more than $2k each. Dozens more that owe me hundreds.  If I saw any of them I'd just wave and say hi. An old drunk owes you $20. Move on already."

    Can you imagine if a guy that like tried to be a landlord?   LOL Not for everyone, that for sure ☺ Glad you were able to move past it, too.

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