Prior tenant not paying rent or signing new lease, can I evict?

[Maurice Blackledge]

Hey BP,

I have a tenant that I “inherited” from the purchase of a duplex. One of the tenants has been nonresponsive and hard to get a hold of. They also haven’t signed a new lease or paid rent since I took over the property on Oct 2nd.

There was no prior lease in place, and I am looking to get rid of them. Do I have to follow the standard eviction process, or does that not apply because they weren’t under a lease prior to me purchasing? The property is in Indiana and I’m trying to determine my options.

Thanks all!

[Tom S.]

@Maurice Blackledge  One important thing to add, if it's your first "pay or quit" notice, pay a lawyer $100 to draft it for you.  I once did the DIY approach before hiring an attorney, and he stated because I had one word wrong in the Pay or Quit notice, it was possible it could have been thrown out in court.  And that would have been in court 1-2 months later and would have had to start the whole process again, all the time not receiving rent.

So money well spent...