Investor · Millington, TN · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 40 votes
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?
@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.
Here (in Ohio) it is my understanding that the only way the 3-day drug use eviction applies is if the tenants get busted in the apartment or law enforcement tells you there is credible evidence of drug use; you seeing what you think are drugs or other tenants telling you there are drugs wouldn't count. Make sure that the drug eviction applies in your case so it doesn't get thrown out and cost you more money. (I don't know the rules in TN)
@Rousner E. - I don't know TN law, but in most places the sheriff gets involved when there's an eviction. Ending the lease is not the same as an eviction.
Absolutely, I am terminating the lease by doing a cash for keys instead of filing an eviction. I don’t want to wait out for the eviction process cause the market gets tough around this time of year, but I know I would win an eviction ruling.
Cash for keys would not involve the sheriff. If they go for it, it is probably the best strategy to avoid a lengthy and expensive eviction. Wishing you luck!
Kicked them out this morning, everything went smoothly. Sheriffs office showed up to avoid any disturbance, changed the locks, did a quick inspection and gave them back their deposit. No damages (Thank God). My screening process just got a lot more stringent
@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.
@Rousner E. it sounds like you did it right. Sounds like you kept your cool and got them out peacefully and without any drama. I, personally, am leery of terminating leases for violations that don't involve non-payment of rent (in your case, smoking weed). Tough to prove and less clear cut so better to get them out cooperatively.
I've done it all sorts of ways, notices to vacate, evictions, cash for keys and combinations thereof. @Joe Splitrock is totally right that the notice to vacate should always be sent, but I always follow up with phone calls and keep the lines of communication open. ("I want to work with you to get you out of the home" etc., etc.) Even after I've filed for eviction, I'm super nice and polite and try to work with them. ("I don't want to have get an eviction against you so what can we do?") Learned this the hard way. As landlords getting stiffed on the rent, it's real easy to get made or irritated but swallowing our pride and trying to be accommodating usually turns out to be more profitable.
No Sheriff. Just draw up an agreement that the lease is terminated by mutual consent, that they are the only tenants living in it, that they are returning the property to you and giving up all claim to it, and that they have given you the keys and have received their security deposit back in full. Then change the locks immediately.
Very smart to do it this way. Much easier, and quicker.
Sounds like you have this on-lock, Rousner. Happy to hear that things worked out; all too often in situations like these, that tends to not be the case. Definitely good advice from Joe as well. I'm hoping all goes well with the next tenant. As you already noted, it could be good to think about refining the screening process moving forward (easy way to ascertain whether or not someone has displayed signs of being a not-so-great tenant in the past). The most stringent screening process still can't guarantee you won't run into this again, but certainly can help you mitigate some of those risks (ie. be sure to include a nationwide criminal background check, eviction history, credit score and credit history breakdown, and reference checks from prior landlords). Happy everything worked out for you!