Tenant behind almost 3 months & COVID eviction Moratorium

[Patrick W.]

I need some help with best strategy for rent collection here.

I purchased a building in January - in March, COVID hit. This building has 3 tenants I inherited and the previous own didn’t a horrible job screening.

I have tenant who is behind by over $1,600 in rent and fees which is almost 3 months rent. Will not answer the door, can’t catch him coming in and out, won’t answer calls, texts, emails. Won’t budge with a 14 day notice. Nothing

He also has a dog and fish tank which violate his lease.

Does anyone have any suggested strategies, things that have worked for them - I get these are unprecedented times....

Thanks

[Nathan Gesner]

The eviction moratorium is for the non-payment of rent. You can still evict for other violations (if the courts are open and not backlogged). Most renters will leave if you give them a 30-day Notice of Termination for lease violations. I would just post a notice on his door that you are terminating his lease for failure to pay rent and the other violations. See if he gets out. 

I would also post notice of inspection on a regular basis and then inspect just to keep an eye on things. If he starts getting nervous, he may just abandon the place without any notice and you'll want to catch that quick so it's not sitting empty for a month.