SWAT team surrounding my rental now

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SWAT team surrounding my rental now

John MorganPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

So my tenants stopped paying rent in January and I filed for eviction in ft worth in Feb. I won my eviction case March 16th. However, all evictions got halted a few days later so I never got the writ of possession (which takes 7 days after winning the eviction). These people have been a problem for awhile and it’s my fault for not filing for eviction earlier. The city inspector contacted me numerous times in the last 3 or 4 months about trash violations and junk stored in the front of the house. They even had the water turned off for not paying, but my tenants turned the water valve at the street back on which isn’t allowed obviously.

Anyway, the police told me the SWAT team is surrounding the house and are about to go in. The people inside the house told the cops two of them have coronavirus. The police said they have warrants to arrest for stolen goods. I’m sure they’ll find tons of drugs in there too. He told me they may haul them all off to jail. So here’s my question. If they go busting in and haul them all off, can I reclaim the property legally? I assume I can’t since they didn’t leave on their own and all their possessions will be inside. What are my rights? It’s not in a good area and I’m worried someone will break in and steal all my copper again from my HVAC in the attic like they did last year. And take all my new appliances. Since I have an eviction award from the court, can I legally take it back if they get thrown in jail? Do I have any rights? Or just leave the house with a smashed in front door for another 60 days or whenever they allow evictions again?

The police were called out to this house 15 different times recently according to their records. The next door neighbors smell marijuana constantly coming from inside the house. They hear loud fighting late at night frequently. And hear gun shots from it occasionally. One bullet apparently hit the neighbor’s car window three weeks ago. I feel awful about the problems my tenants have caused to this neighborhood. I completely rehabbed it 11 months ago and spent 50k on it. Just wished i had some rights to reclaim my property that I’m paying big loans on. But I’m afraid I don’t have any rights since all evictions are halted.

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
6y

I posted about a similar situation a few times over the years. The short version (yes, this is the short version) is that a nurse lost her job, and literally walked out the door to take a job in another state without taking any of her belongings, closing the doors, taking out the trash, or even leaving the heat on. I discovered the home with front and back door wide open, no heat or utilities in the house, and the interior temperature was 24 degrees! The pipes were frozen but we managed to fix everything before it developed a leak.

I finally managed to contact her through her daughter. The tenant said she was working 24/7 2 catch up financially and was not able to come back to pay what she owed or even move out of the house. She left multiple flat screen TVs, four laptop computers, all of her clothes, all of her photos, jewelry, and even some brand new rifles! This was a 3000 square foot house with four large bedrooms and three full bathrooms a d it was full of stuff. she left a ton of trash, but her actual possessions were all high-quality items.

I hired three helpers, came up with an hourly rate, and we packed up every last bit of her stuff and placed it in storage. I told her she could have it back when she paid all the due rent, utilities, cleaning, late fees, as well as my moving and Storage cost.

After a month-and-a-half of no payment, we started inventorying her belongings and pricing them for sale. I'm not joking when I tell you we discovered an engagement ring worth $10,000 (I have a jeweler friend) plus a lot of other high-end jewelry. We chose the items we thought would sell fastest to cover the debt, did the necessary filings and were about a week away from selling when she contacted me and said she was ready to pay. we came to an agreement on the amount, she showed up a week later with a large U-Haul truck and a friend, and she paid me every last dime owed. She thanked me profusely (several times every day for three days) for being so willing to work with her!

That's the only time in my life I've been paid $100 per hour for physical labor. LOL!

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  • Kyle MccawBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Keller, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Wow! Sounds like you just earned some great stories to tell leter once this all is behind you. Secure the property once they get hauled off. Keep in mind they may not haul everyone away. Video/photograph everything. Lock up the property. You may have to unlock the property for them if they want back in...crazy I know. Hang tough you will get past this. 

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  • John MorganPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Kyle Mccaw

    I don’t know if I have the rights to reclaim it if they all get hauled off. These are definitely shady people who I don’t want to mess with. One guy who moved in after the husband moved out looks like an MS-13 gang member with tattoos all over his face..tear drop tat under his eye and all. According to the city inspector that talked to him one time about trash violations, he was told that guy was in and out of prison frequently.

    Maybe my eviction ruling by the Judge 3 weeks ago in court is good enough? One police officer I talked to yesterday about this situation told me I’m basically stuck with them until they lift the eviction order. But since they’ve already been evicted by the judge maybe I have the right to reclaim my property if it’s vacant momentarily while they go to jail.

    The SWAT team has been out there for a few hours surrounding the house. I think They’re freaked out about the corona contamination and people inside who are sick and don’t know what to do. Good times!

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  • Matthew Paul
    Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y

    They will be out on bail the next day .

    3Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Central, FL · Member since 2016 · 950 posts · 821 votes
    6y

    Call the city.  Actually call a attorney and get the eviction completed.  You have the order just need a signature.  Shouldn’t be a impossible task. 

    Good luck

    1Reply
  • Filipe Pereira
    Property Manager · Windsor Locks, CT · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Hi @John Morgan unfortunately your gut is most likely telling you the right thing. While I can't speak on Texas law, if the situation you described happened in CT my understanding is that the tenant still has possession until the eviction is complete and they have been moved out by the state marshall. It sounds like part of the problem is that you don't know exactly who was taken off to jail, and who may still remain. Hopefully your eviction covered all unnamed tenants as well as those who are on the lease. 

    I once had an inherited tenant move out of a rental property (just picked up and left) without telling me. I tried and tried and tried to find a way to consider that as termination of the lease, but what my attorney told me was that until she returned the key and stated she moved out, she technically still had possession of the unit. It blew my mind. I ended up having to file for an eviction because the tenant wouldn't return the key which is apparently what constitutes as a "move out" in Connecticut. The unit sat empty during the entire eviction process. It sucked. 

    Good luck moving forward. 

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y

    Talk to an attorney immediately. You may have legal justification for removing their property, placing it in storage, and taking possession of the rental. Then you can essentially hold their belongings hostage until they pay you for everything owed in the judgment, plus moving/storage costs.

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  • Greg H.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y

    I assume you have already acted by now.  In this situation in Texas, you can

    -Definitely secure and change the locks.  Texas law allows you to do this provided you make a key available to the tenant if they ask.  So this makes it worthless to do in most cases but makes sense in yours

    -Others suggest finishing the eviction, however no Writ of Possession are being allowed at this time in Texas so that is not possible

    -Texas allows a landlord to declare a property abandoned.  However, with your knowledge of where are, in my opinion that is not available now

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  • Karl B.
    Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

    Talk to an attorney immediately. You may have legal justification for removing their property, placing it in storage, and taking possession of the rental. Then you can essentially hold their belongings hostage until they pay you for everything owed in the judgment, plus moving/storage costs.

    I should make a thread about this. I evicted a tenant and he and his cousin of course didn't move out. They had 10 days after the eviction date to move and didn't. So the locks were changed. I had to wait 10 days after the changed locks to remove their stuff (state law). Hired two movers off the Uhaul website for cheap and we moved everything. 

    The tenant asked to grab a few things from the apartment and I told him he'd need to pay the movers, warehouse, truck rental, my time, etc. and I never heard from him again. I now have his items on pallets (literally like 15 pallets) and some of the stuff is good stuff. 

    My 2nd eviction months later... she left hundreds of pairs of shoes and a big screen TV. 

    People are weird. You'd think they'd want their possessions  but I reckon not. 

    2Reply
  • Karen F.
    Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2015 · 435 posts · 421 votes
    6y

    Legally, you can secure it, and if they ask for keys, you have to give them keys.

    But there's no court right now, won't be probably until July or later, and I have a feeling that the cops aren't going to help them.  I'd declare it abandoned, inspect for evidence of illegal activity and call the cops in if you find it (grow operation, meth house, drug scales, you name it), secure it, move their stuff into a storage place that gives first month free (take tons of pictures) and board the place up really tightly, including the best locks you can get, and start getting the place cleaned up, and re-rented as quickly as possible (but don't remove the boards on windows until you either have tenants in there, or bars on the windows.  Send a certified letter to their last known address (your unit) informing them that you found the property abandoned, and where their property is, so that they can collect it.  Let them go to court in three to four months.  I have a feeling that the judge will give you the benefit of the doubt, under the circumstances.

    2Reply
  • John MorganPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Kyle Mccaw

    So the officer in charge called me today and gave me the scoop. The got a warrant for stolen property. They’ve been doing under cover surveillance on this property for 7 months. The police had been called out to the house 15 times recently. They would always tell the cops to eff off when they showed up. One time was for telling a CPS worker to eff off and wouldn’t allow her inside to do a welfare check on her son. So the CPS worker got a police officer to come back with her and the mom told the officer to eff off too! Classy people.

    So they finally got the warrant yesterday and showed up with a big armored truck and 8 SWAT team members. They busted inside the house and arrested 4 out of 8 people inside. So it’s not abandoned. A few of them are gang members. They said the house was completely packed with stolen goods and hauled it all off in big truck.

    So I’m guessing I’ll have to wait until summer to get the writ of possession. I’m going to see if I can file a case with the judge who ruled in my favor of eviction on March 16. Maybe illegal activity there will help me get a writ?

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y

    I posted about a similar situation a few times over the years. The short version (yes, this is the short version) is that a nurse lost her job, and literally walked out the door to take a job in another state without taking any of her belongings, closing the doors, taking out the trash, or even leaving the heat on. I discovered the home with front and back door wide open, no heat or utilities in the house, and the interior temperature was 24 degrees! The pipes were frozen but we managed to fix everything before it developed a leak.

    I finally managed to contact her through her daughter. The tenant said she was working 24/7 2 catch up financially and was not able to come back to pay what she owed or even move out of the house. She left multiple flat screen TVs, four laptop computers, all of her clothes, all of her photos, jewelry, and even some brand new rifles! This was a 3000 square foot house with four large bedrooms and three full bathrooms a d it was full of stuff. she left a ton of trash, but her actual possessions were all high-quality items.

    I hired three helpers, came up with an hourly rate, and we packed up every last bit of her stuff and placed it in storage. I told her she could have it back when she paid all the due rent, utilities, cleaning, late fees, as well as my moving and Storage cost.

    After a month-and-a-half of no payment, we started inventorying her belongings and pricing them for sale. I'm not joking when I tell you we discovered an engagement ring worth $10,000 (I have a jeweler friend) plus a lot of other high-end jewelry. We chose the items we thought would sell fastest to cover the debt, did the necessary filings and were about a week away from selling when she contacted me and said she was ready to pay. we came to an agreement on the amount, she showed up a week later with a large U-Haul truck and a friend, and she paid me every last dime owed. She thanked me profusely (several times every day for three days) for being so willing to work with her!

    That's the only time in my life I've been paid $100 per hour for physical labor. LOL!

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  • Karl B.
    Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

    I posted about a similar situation a few times over the years. The short version (yes, this is the short version) is that a nurse lost her job, and literally walked out the door to take a job in another state without taking any of her belongings, closing the doors, taking out the trash, or even leaving the heat on. I discovered the home with front and back door wide open, no heat or utilities in the house, and the interior temperature was 24 degrees! The pipes were frozen but we managed to fix everything before it developed a leak.

    I finally managed to contact her through her daughter. The tenant said she was working 24/7 2 catch up financially and was not able to come back to pay what she owed or even move out of the house. She left multiple flat screen TVs, four laptop computers, all of her clothes, all of her photos, jewelry, and even some brand new rifles! This was a 3000 square foot house with four large bedrooms and three full bathrooms a d it was full of stuff. she left a ton of trash, but her actual possessions were all high-quality items.

    I hired three helpers, came up with an hourly rate, and we packed up every last bit of her stuff and placed it in storage. I told her she could have it back when she paid all the due rent, utilities, cleaning, late fees, as well as my moving and Storage cost.

    After a month-and-a-half of no payment, we started inventorying her belongings and pricing them for sale. I'm not joking when I tell you we discovered an engagement ring worth $10,000 (I have a jeweler friend) plus a lot of other high-end jewelry. We chose the items we thought would sell fastest to cover the debt, did the necessary filings and were about a week away from selling when she contacted me and said she was ready to pay. we came to an agreement on the amount, she showed up a week later with a large U-Haul truck and a friend, and she paid me every last dime owed. She thanked me profusely (several times every day for three days) for being so willing to work with her!

    That's the only time in my life I've been paid $100 per hour for physical labor. LOL!

    That is wild. It sounds like she had top-notch stuff. Glad she didn't freeze the pipes. What was her explanation on why the doors were left open?

    These guys had regular C class stuff - TV, PS2, shoes, tons of furniture and housewares, framed artwork (kind of cool - worthy of being on office walls), electronics, tons of clothes (saw a vintage 1980s G&R shirt in there which was cool), baby clothes, new stroller, crib, and a super nice Italian dress coat that fits me so I'm taking that to the tailor to have fitted. 

    I'm going to donate all the diapers and baby items to some local charity. Erie has a large immigrant population and so I'm assuming they'll be cool with receiving houseware stuff as well that's of little value but things that still shouldn't be thrown out as someone can use them. 

    The other tenant literally left 100s of pairs of shoes. I'll take those to the second hand store and will see if they will consign any or all.  

    4Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y

    As I said, short version! ;)

    she lived there alone for four months but we counted around 30 empty, family-sized boxes of cheese nips. In four months! She ate about a hundred frozen healthy choice meals, placed the tray back in the box, and placed the box in the kitchen cabinets. she had tons of shipping boxes and appeared to be doing a lot of impulse shopping. Then there were the sex toys strewn all over the house...

    This woman was in her late 50s, educated and with a very successful career. We found a lot of mostly empty prescription medicine bottles throughout the house in believe she was abusing them while going through some sort of late midlife crisis.

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  • David Avetisyan
    Rental Property Investor · Glendale, CA · Member since 2013 · 685 posts · 334 votes
    6y

    Im just curious how these horrible tenants landed in your newly renovated unit?!

    3Reply
  • John MorganPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @David Avetisyan

    My tenants originally were a husband and wife who moved in with their two young boys 10 months ago. Seemed like the perfect family. Everything was fine until they split up. The wife decided to date a scary looking Hispanic gang member and the rest is history. The husband who moved out was the one who paid me through Venmo pay app the whole time. I didn’t even realize they split up and he moved out months ago. I started to evict them in December before Xmas. He begged me to keep them and tried to get caught up. I should have evicted them right there. But felt bad for their two boys during that time of year. My mistake. I would have had them out of there by now if I just filed then. Hard lesson learned and will never let a tenant get behind and work with them again.

    2Reply
  • John MorganPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Nathan G.

    This is by far the craziest landlord story I’ve ever heard! You should write a book about your experiences.

    1Reply
  • Ronald RohdePro Member
    Attorney · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    Hi John, it depends on your lease whether they have abandoned the property. If so, you could inventory and toss their stuff, otherwise they could have a claim against you for self help eviction.

    0Reply
  • Brian Prudden
    Buddlake, NJ · Member since 2017 · 76 posts · 21 votes
    6y

    @John Morgan. Thanks for posting i thought i had bad tenant. They are a pain but nothing like your.

    0Reply
  • Sam B.
    Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2015 · 270 posts · 217 votes
    6y

    Passive income!!!

    0Reply
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