Updated almost 6 years ago on . Most recent reply
Cash for keys instead of eviction
Long story, I got a tenant who I found out how had moved her boyfriend into the house and he was smoking weed in the house. State of TN requires a 3 day notice to the tenants that the lease will end due to illegal activity/drug use. I gave them 5 days and offered to return the security deposit. From your experience what do I need to be mindful of and prepare for? I am planning on calling the sheriffs that morning to have them come to the property with me and I will switch the locks right then and there, conduct an inspection of the property and give the tenant a check for the security deposit that same day. Am I missing anything?
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@Rousner E. in my experience most people will leave when served with notice to vacate, which means you gave them money for no reason. Eviction only happens if they refuse to leave the property. They need to show up in court and give a reason why they should not be evicted. Most people never show up and are long gone before it even gets to court.
The reason you want to follow the eviction process is because it is the only way to legally regain rights to your property. With an eviction order, you can have the sheriff force-ably remove people. Without an eviction, the sheriff can do nothing besides stand there. In fact, you could hand them cash for keys and the tenant could come back into the property the next day. Then you would have to evict them.
I am glad it worked out for you, but in the future I would just give them notice and likely they will leave. The ones who don't go willfully need to be evicted to reduce risk for the landlord.