Drug addict/Convicted Felon in unit...Hummm

Drug addict/Convicted Felon in unit...Hummm

Real Estate Investor · Phoenixville, PA · Member since 2008 · 105 posts · 38 votes

Hello all, has been a long time...Anyway, need some advice about a situation I had tonight in PA.

About 4 months ago I agree to rent a unit to a girl who I was told, had an alcohol problem in the past, but has been clean for over a year and needed a break...Her social worker told me that she has SS income which her parents control, and they do send the rent every month.. Anyway...Being a nice guy, I rented to her, and so far I always get paid, and the place for the most part is fairly clean..
Lately there have been some odd characters there visiting her ect. The downstairs tenant has reported this to me, and I have confronted the new girl and let her know that I won't stand for any bad behavior.

Well, tonight I find out that she "relapsed" , and she has been in a re-hab for the last week. The reason I found this out that is the downstairs tenant informed me that the police and ambulance were just there to take away the BOY FRIEND.

When I got there, I missed all the excitement, but I went in the apartment to find 2 girls (really strung out types) and I told them to GET OUT NOW. (I am being nice in my post.) I go through the apartment and I find only a few needles on the night stand along with the BOY Friends wallet. In his wallet I find an ID, and guess what...His address is listed as MY Apartmnent! I find mail in his name addressed to MY Apartment. She let this junky move in. Then I look around more and find piles of court papers. Guy just got out of Prison for Armed Robbery, Assult withg a deadly weapon, and a strew of other charges. There were even pictures of the differewnt guns he used in these crimes. WONDERFUL.

Anyway, I go to the police department, and they basically told me to evict my new tenant. That she let him live there, and that is just how it is. They let him go free, as all they did is respond to a 911 call for an "unresponsive person". He was given CPR, and is in the hospital now recovering. The blood work isn't back yet, so they can't prove why he was in the condition that he was, and that even whern the blood work comes back, it will takes weeks for his parole officer to even find out.

Bottom line is, I can't even lock this guy out. What I did do was see to it that I cleaned the apartment carpet with 3 gallons of amonia. Very quickly doused the entire place as I want to make sure all the germs from the blood ect is safe.
(Big Smile) and I did go out of my way to post on the door that "Do to an emergency, irritating chemicals had to be used to clean blood from floors. " You can't enter that place for more than 5 seconds and you are right back out the door.

But other than what I told you guys, what else do you do with this situation? I know the easy answer is evict, been there done that, but I don't need a bunch of gun slinging heroin addicts (who by the way don't mind shooting thier guns.) living in my building until an eviction is final. I have delt with jerk tenants before, and did my yelling and screaming, but sometimes you have to pick your battles, and death is not worth a rent check. Any input??

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Residential Real Estate Broker · Payson, AZ · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
14y

I don't have any valuable input for you other than what you're likely to expect most of us to say.

For posts like these though make me miss @MikeOh

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Investor · El Dorado Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    I don't mean to sound cold but these are the types of issues you run into when you accept those types of tenants. The fact that her parents had full control of her money should have been a huge red flag.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Payson, AZ · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    I don't have any valuable input for you other than what you're likely to expect most of us to say.

    For posts like these though make me miss @MikeOh

  • Rental Property Investor · Northern, CA · Member since 2012 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    14y

    Sounds like a simple (albeit frustrating) problem with a simple straightforward solution....evict the tenant (and the boyfriend) and screen your next tenant better.

  • SFR Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 484 posts · 181 votes
    14y

    I don't mean to sound harsh, but what is your return on this unit?
    It sounds like a tough neighborhood, not one I would purchase in myself.

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    14y

    Don't have much input for your predicament. But I can offer some links useful for identifying those who have been in trouble with the law. My guess is the girl you rented to is going to have her name show up in one of these search sites.

    http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CP.aspx

    http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/MDJ.aspx

    http://www.bop.gov/

    Good luck, and keep us posted on developments with this situation.

  • Member since 2011 · 798 posts · 216 votes
    14y

    What does her social worker think of the situation?

    Does your lease specify single occupancy?

    Did the parents co-sign the lease?

    Does the lease talk about 'no illegal behavior' or 'right to quiet enjoyment' by neighbors?

    Obviously I would be careful dealing with this whacko boyfriend.

    Is she a felon too? I think there are rules of no contact with felons after a recent release.

    I would be incredibly careful touching anything in that place. Who knows what diseases those people have. Is this place in the hood?

    If she stays in rehab, would the boyfriend get bored, dump her, and move on? Then you get rent, while no one lives there. How long does it take to evict where are you?

  • Residential Landlord · Chicago, IL · Member since 2012 · 356 posts · 81 votes
    14y

    Why were you going through your tenant's personal belongings?

    Try contacting the parents. If they are controlling her SS they may have power of attorney. It may be in her best interest for them to break the lease, clean out her apartment and return keys.

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    14y

    Based on your profile, my guess is that the rental is in Pottstown. If it's in the rougher parts of that town, you're going to have that less polished sort of tenant.

  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    14y

    I really do not like saying this but it seems "no good deed goes unpunished".

    The problem with drugs,alcohol,etc. is that they never kick the habit.The disease is not curable during their life just controllable. The minute they think they have things under control and stop going to meetings etc. is when they relapse.

    Even if the person is working hard to stay clean they will feel sorry for the druggy friends and let them crash their.Once around the poison of choice instead of a safe environment they cave in.

    I had this happen before with a tenant with a nice job as a chef.She had been clean for 5 years and had another year of probation left.Her probation officer swore up and down she was a model person in the program.

    At first things were great the first 2 months.Then these seedy guy start showing up from out of state in SUV's and then now she is keeping pit bulls for a friend of hers which is not allowed in the lease.

    One of her friends boyfriends stole a purse and police came and found him in the closet and arrested him.

    Point of that story is I do not ever take marginal tenants again.I will let someone else take the risk.I am not putting my money at risk or returns but I will gladly let the Government do it.

    I look for quality in properties now and not the low income stuff.You can't let a marginal tenant come in and affect your whole building if they relapse.

  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    14y

    I have seen marginal tenants in a nicer area try to rent to turn their life around but as I said they tend to relapse and bring a bad element around which is why I have zero tolerance anymore.

  • Real Estate Investor · Phoenixville, PA · Member since 2008 · 105 posts · 38 votes
    14y

    Thanks for the input and here are some answers for you. The rental is in an okay section. Not the hood by any means, but more like a blue collar area (factory area.) The tenant downstairs has been there for 7 years and plans on staying forever. She is handicap. The place has 13 yrs of a 15 yr loan left on it. The paymnet which includes Princ/Int/Tax is $1100 mt. Water/sewer trash runs about $350 quarter. The total rents are 1100 and 750. The longest the upstairs has ever been vacant is 3 weeks. (I have owned it since 2008.) So there are some numbers since you asked.

    The lease states all of the above. No drugs, no extra people, no bad behavior, ect ect..To be honest, the lease is VERY harsh to the point that some peopole have read it and asked me, "How do you get people to sign this?" No her parents didn't co sign, but they so control her money which is SS check every month. As of now, I could have the unit cleaned out in 1 day, have my garbage truck driver pick all possessions up for $100 bucks, and start over.

    I posted the eviction notice on the door, and have to wait a few days to file at the court. (Opens Monday.) Now here is a question...There will send the court date out quickly for me, within 2-3 days. Now if she is in rehab when the court papers come in her mail, and she misses the court hearing...Do I win automatically? Or can she go get herself some legal aid lawyer and plead that she was in a rehab and wasn't able to get her mail...You know where I am going with this..
    Also, if she is the only person on the lease, do I have to file for eviction of these other people that have taken up residency in my building? The police told me that since this criminal was given permission to stay there with her, that there isn't anything I can really do about it. (If he pisses me off enough, I am going to handle this my own way as I am not going to let some dirt bag ruin my investment.) Any more input??

  • Residential Landlord · Chicago, IL · Member since 2012 · 356 posts · 81 votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Chris Da:
    Also, if she is the only person on the lease, do I have to file for eviction of these other people that have taken up residency in my building? The police told me that since this criminal was given permission to stay there with her, that there isn't anything I can really do about it.

    Whether they are on the lease or not, if they are living there they have rights and need to be evicted. When you file, you can list tenant and John Doe(s).

    That is why I suggested you work with her family. If they have control of her finances and are acting on her behalf see if they will move her out - this may save you the time/expense of an eviction and clear your apartment out before any "squatters" move in. It also avoids the possibility of having to wait until she is out of rehab.

    I wouldn't recommend either of these things. You are opening yourself to a lot of trouble if you lower yourself to their level. You have a lot more to lose than they do here.

  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    14y

    Chris,

    You need to ask your eviction clerks office for correct verbage.

    Here where I am in Georgia to file eviction it's the people on the lease which usually costs about 74 bucks and then 5 bucks a person.

    Then when you file you also pay another 8 bucks for filing (and all others) eviction notice.

    This covers anyone else known or unknown in the property.It's worth the little cost to go ahead and file that.

  • Real Estate Investor · Center Moriches, NY · Member since 2011 · 163 posts · 4 votes
    14y

    If you want them out quicker offer them something... Let them know if they leave in a week you will give them $400, two weeks, $150, three weeks $0 or come up with your own deals just to get rid of them.

    Drug addicts love money.

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Chris Da:
    ...
    The lease states all of the above. No drugs, no extra people, no bad behavior, ect ect..To be honest, the lease is VERY harsh to the point that some peopole have read it and asked me, "How do you get people to sign this?" ...

    Most tentnat don't question the bulk of the lease in my experience; they assume it is some standardized form and just sign. Some do read it and do ask questions, but still sign in the end. hopefully you are using a 'plain language" lease per PA state law.

    Originally posted by Chris Da:
    ...
    No her parents didn't co sign, but they so control her money which is SS check every month.
    ...

    If they had co-signed, you would be filing for a judgment against them; that could be beneficial to you unless they are also judgment-proof.

    Originally posted by Chris Da:
    ...
    I posted the eviction notice on the door, and have to wait a few days to file at the court. (Opens Monday.) Now here is a question...There will send the court date out quickly for me, within 2-3 days. Now if she is in rehab when the court papers come in her mail, and she misses the court hearing...Do I win automatically? Or can she go get herself some legal aid lawyer and plead that she was in a rehab and wasn't able to get her mail...You know where I am going with this..
    Also, if she is the only person on the lease, do I have to file for eviction of these other people that have taken up residency in my building? The police told me that since this criminal was given permission to stay there with her, that there isn't anything I can really do about it. ...

    Make sure that she is served papers wherever the rehab is. Find out where the server would have to go and get that done.

    Include language to cover all occupants to be on the safe side.

    What does your lease say regarding "guests" and how long a guest can stay before they are no longer considered a "guest" under the lease?

  • Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    I've found that is someone is under 62 and getting SS, that is a major red flag. I didn't see a mention of this girls age, but it sounds like she is young. Social Security was started as a program for retired people and has transformed into a system of paying people to be lazy.

    I can't tell you how many people I've had look at a house and they're on SS and under 40. They always claim they have a bad back or some other nonsense. I always ask, "Why can't you get a job at a desk, or sell cars, or answer phones, etc?" They always look at me as if I'm nuts for suggesting that they actually do something productive.

  • Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    13y

    Chris Da - how are you making out with this situation?

  • Real Estate Investor · chicago, IL · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 231 votes
    13y

    Rob K have you considered a part-time job as a comedian? love it.

  • Real Estate Investor · Phoenixville, PA · Member since 2008 · 105 posts · 38 votes
    13y

    Update Steve...

    Well, this is a turn for the better...The girl got out of rehab..the boyfriend is out of the hospital..Can't beleive this, but they felt bad as to what they did and offered to clean the entire place, as I was nothing but good to them and leave. Honestly, they cleaned the apartment to the point of it being cleaner than when I gave it to them. they paid me the rent owed to date and left nicely. I CAN"T ask for anything more. All I can say is "WOW!" I would have never guessed this would be the outcome in this situation.

    I have spent the last few days remodeling the apartment, as I knocked down a wall and expanded the kitchen, added a few cabinets and a new floor. I am no longer going to rent this unit as Section 8 or to maginal tenants, as the handicap lady on the first floor does not deserve to deal with the nonsense. She had made it clear to me that she wants to stay here for many years (hopefully her Section 8 Cert will pay off my building.) I will be renting the unit to a decent lady in 2 weeks. I figure I would really tune up the unit to make it more desireable, and accept $750 month for a decent tenant verses $990 for a dirt bag Section 8 that may cause conflict with my down stairs golden goose tenant..

    And Scott, you are not the first person to suggest the comic line of work to me..:)

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