I have a tenant through the housing voucher program and they have not paid the October 2020 rent. The housing organization has paid the rent for the Nov, Dec and Jan. Tenant has stopped responding to texts and calls saying she doesn't have a phone and she has been responding through someone else's email. We went to inspect the property in December and it was trashed and there was substance abuse as well. The tenant was not at the property so we posted a violation notice on her door to fix it in 3 weeks and that I won't be extending my lease after 1/31/2021 which is also the last day of her lease. I went there with my property manager earlier this week to see if they cleaned the apartment but instead she came out yelling that we cannot enter her apartment. We couldn't even have a conversation because she kept screaming and yelling and how we entered her home without notice. I get a feeling she won't leave the place without an eviction from court. Any suggestions on how I should approach this?
@Aj Parikh - I had a very similar situation happen and successfully evicted my SEC 8 tenant last month, although it wasn't easy. When you say "trashed the property", what does this mean? In my base, my tenant kept bringing home free trash and collecting it around the house, claiming she was going to use it or sell it. We gave notice and it wasn't cured, so I called the city and reported a zoning violation, knowing that I risked getting a fine that could result in a lien on the property if it didn't get paid. Because of the pandemic, and because this tenant was SEC 8 and would lose her voucher if I evicted, I just preferred to have the City issuing violations notices about the tenant's behavior, rather than them coming just from me. I schedule an interior inspection and found the house full of junk too. We added this to the notice and scheduled an interior reinspection for 30 days following. Eventually the tenant did come into compliance with the city on the exterior, although by then the Housing Authority issued a termination notice of her voucher. Her appeal deadline was the same day as my interior reinspection, which was on a Monday. The week before the inspection I reminded the tenant of our inspection day. The night before the inspection the tenant called to say they were quarantining for COVID exposure. I told her that was OK with me, that I would mask and glove up, and was willing to risk it. That morning she called me at 9am to ask if she could move the inspection from 11am to 1pm. I told her no, that I did not have flexibility in my schedule that day. She agreed to see me in two hours. When I showed up the dog barked, but no one answered. I knew the dog and was OK entering, so I put my key in and started turning. The door flew open and a woman who was not my tenant, but I know had been living there for almost a year, stormed our SCREAMING at me that I did not have permission to enter, blah, blah, blah. She grabbed my keys from the door and hurled them across the yard. THEN, she started a fake cough and started running at me, telling me she was COVID positive and I needed to run away. (Don't worry - it was a lie.) I was done then, and we ordered an eviction, for failure to adhere to city code and violating her contract with HUD, which terminated her housing voucher and her lease. The eviction got ordered and the police did verify we were evicting for non-financial reasons, and emptied the house of all living occupants.
Make your violation about non-financial lease violations. Leave the financial out of the equation. It can be done.
Oh - and the tenant got legal aid involved, and it was the best thing that could have happened for us. We follow the law and are fair, and this tenant was a habitual liar. The legal aid attorney made her follow through with her promises of removing her items by a certain date, cleaning up her trash, etc. It wasn't easy, and took days of our attorneys volleying back and forth, but she is out and I have a sweet SEC 8 tenant getting ready to move in.
Good luck getting yours into compliance or out! Be fair but firm!
@Aj Parikh unless you are up to date on all the new tenant laws that came into effect in Virginia as of January 1.. I say it's safer to hire a lawyer for this one.
@Amy H. Thank you for the response. I have a property management that I have been working with since September of last year and they have been consulting a lawyer and we have been taking the steps ever since. Their advise has been to give the notice and wait since eviction is not an option due to the moratorium. The tenant did tell us they will be leaving end of this month but then she even promised to pay rent and hasn't done that so I am just being cautious and making sure I am ready for what is to come.
@Aj Parikh Have you tried to talk to their case contact for their voucher program? They can lose their voucher for not paying. Is it covid related non-payment?
@Amy H. Yes, the case worker is aware of the whole situation. As of now, we are all just hoping she leaves end of this month and we can collect the rent and late fees from the security deposit. I am pretty sure she will be losing out on the voucher because I sent the case worker videos of the state of the apartment the last time I went for inspection with my property manager.
I found what I read a couple of weeks ago. I will send you the article in case it helps.
Starting Jan. 1, all landlords seeking eviction due to unpaid rent will have an additional requirement. During the 14-day nonpayment notice period, these landlords must apply for rent relief on behalf of the tenant, unless the tenant already has applied. These landlords may not evict unless rent relief is denied for one of these reasons:
To get rent relief, tenants must have a valid lease in their name and reduced income due to COVID-19. Household income must be at or below 80% of area median income. Rent must be at or below 150% of fair market (voucher) rent. Rent relief can pay 100% of current rent and 100% of past due rent from April 1 to the present. Over the past five months, $33 million in rent relief has gone to more than 11,000 households.
@Aj Parikh
If you post a notice to enter 24hrs in advance you can enter the property legally.
I would begin filing the eviction process as well. Once you enter the unit you can try to speak with her and offer cash for keys, but I doubt she will leave after the 31st, so you will most likely have to evict
@Joaquin Camarasa Thank you for sharing this. The tenant has been non-responsive ever since I hired a property manager back in September of last year. We have tried multiple times to see if she needs help. I don't know if she has reached out to Rent relief. She is even ignoring her case worker but the organization still paid her rent for November, December and January. At this point, I feel I have to wait till end of the lease term and see if she evicts the place.
@Joshua Adlam We posted the notice on December 9th asking her to clean up the apartment and we would be back to inspect it on January 11th. She emails our property manager late on January 10th that she cannot accommodate our request becauIse she has an interview scheduled at that time and we can't enter the apartment. Our property manager said a violation notice cannot be rescheduled. We still ended up going the morning of Jan 11th and the tenant came out screaming that we had no right to enter the apartment. So she definitely wasn't at the interview but I am not going there. She kept screaming at top of her voice and didn't even let us finish a sentence. We had to leave at that point. What would be the next step in your opinion here? I am planning to wait out the end of the lease and then proceed with eviction if needed.
@Aj Parikh - I had a very similar situation happen and successfully evicted my SEC 8 tenant last month, although it wasn't easy. When you say "trashed the property", what does this mean? In my base, my tenant kept bringing home free trash and collecting it around the house, claiming she was going to use it or sell it. We gave notice and it wasn't cured, so I called the city and reported a zoning violation, knowing that I risked getting a fine that could result in a lien on the property if it didn't get paid. Because of the pandemic, and because this tenant was SEC 8 and would lose her voucher if I evicted, I just preferred to have the City issuing violations notices about the tenant's behavior, rather than them coming just from me. I schedule an interior inspection and found the house full of junk too. We added this to the notice and scheduled an interior reinspection for 30 days following. Eventually the tenant did come into compliance with the city on the exterior, although by then the Housing Authority issued a termination notice of her voucher. Her appeal deadline was the same day as my interior reinspection, which was on a Monday. The week before the inspection I reminded the tenant of our inspection day. The night before the inspection the tenant called to say they were quarantining for COVID exposure. I told her that was OK with me, that I would mask and glove up, and was willing to risk it. That morning she called me at 9am to ask if she could move the inspection from 11am to 1pm. I told her no, that I did not have flexibility in my schedule that day. She agreed to see me in two hours. When I showed up the dog barked, but no one answered. I knew the dog and was OK entering, so I put my key in and started turning. The door flew open and a woman who was not my tenant, but I know had been living there for almost a year, stormed our SCREAMING at me that I did not have permission to enter, blah, blah, blah. She grabbed my keys from the door and hurled them across the yard. THEN, she started a fake cough and started running at me, telling me she was COVID positive and I needed to run away. (Don't worry - it was a lie.) I was done then, and we ordered an eviction, for failure to adhere to city code and violating her contract with HUD, which terminated her housing voucher and her lease. The eviction got ordered and the police did verify we were evicting for non-financial reasons, and emptied the house of all living occupants.
Make your violation about non-financial lease violations. Leave the financial out of the equation. It can be done.
Oh - and the tenant got legal aid involved, and it was the best thing that could have happened for us. We follow the law and are fair, and this tenant was a habitual liar. The legal aid attorney made her follow through with her promises of removing her items by a certain date, cleaning up her trash, etc. It wasn't easy, and took days of our attorneys volleying back and forth, but she is out and I have a sweet SEC 8 tenant getting ready to move in.
Good luck getting yours into compliance or out! Be fair but firm!
@Patti Robertson This story makes me feel better lol. No wonder people quit real estate with all these landlord issues.
The property manager and case worker have even given her contacts of movers who help out tenants who are in need so hopefully by end of this month, it all gets sorted. I also found this great website which was very helpful to understand the eviction process in VA or other states.
Update as of 2/3/2021:
The tenant's lease ended as of 1/31/2021 and even after giving several reminders, the tenant has not communicated that they would move out before that date. I went to see the condo today (2/3/2021) with my property manager and knocked on the door, there was no response. I tried to open the door with the keys I had and as soon as I tried to turn the lock, there was someone from inside trying to turn it back so I was not able to open the door. So obviously, the tenant has not left the property. My Property Manager again requested her to open the door and even told her to reach out to her to see if she needed help with moving or referral for a new housing voucher but no response.
After 10 min of sitting the car and pondering over the situation, I decided to call the police because I didn't know if it is indeed the tenant in there. 3 Police cars came in the space of 10 min and they knocked on the door and the tenant walks out with no regret on her face saying that "I am on a month to month lease, go read the law for the state of Virginia" (Even though she didn't communicate that she was on a month to month lease). It was a clear case of the tenant knowing the law and abusing it. The Police said they cannot ask the tenant to leave so here we are after 6 months of back and forth with the tenant, we have to proceed with evictions. I will have to file for an eviction with a lawyer. I will keep this thread posted on what happens. HAPPY RENTAL PROPERTY INVESTING !! lol
We are all with you following the journey @Aj Parikh! Thanks for sharing it with all of us so eventually when it happens to us we know what to do. Best of luck and if at some point you need to vent a little. I am here.
Update as of 2/19/2021:
I connected with the attorney that my property management was consulting with since October 2020 to proceed with evictions. He was able to file everything for me during the week of 2/3/2021 and we have a court date set up on 2/26/2021. I was surprised that we were able to get a court date this early but I am not complaining :) Stay tuned.
Update as of 2/26/2021:
The court hearing was set at 10 am. The tenant did not show up so the judge made me take the oath. The lawyer asked me a few questions in front of the court like "Am I the owner of the property? ". He showed me a copy of the lease asking me to confirm that was indeed the lease and if I provided a notice to the tenant that the lease will not be renewed.
After saying yes to all the questions, the judge told us that we can move ahead with eviction. As we were heading out of court room, I saw the tenant coming with her kids around 10:20 am. I let the attorney know that she was the tenant. He told me that she will be able to get another hearing even though she is late. Courts allow a 15-20 min delay. Smh
The tenant went and talked to the clerk sitting next to the judge and she was able to get another hearing at 11:30 am. This time the judge asked the tenant if they understood that she was overstaying as her lease was over and that she has to move out. She agreed with the judge right away. The judge wrote that tenant consents to leave the property.
Outside the courtroom, I had a conversation with the attorney and the tenant stating when she would be moving out. She again gave a vague answer with no date in particular and asked for 30 days to find a place. I disagreed with that. According to the procedure, she has 10 days until March 8th to vacate the place and find another place otherwise my lawyer has to to file for "writ of eviction" notice. After the notice is filed, a sheriff will contact me in 2-3 weeks to set a move out date for the tenant.
Expenses till now because of this tenant:
Non Payment of October 2020 Rent: $1087.50
Late Fees: $145
Overstaying for February 2021: $1450
Lawyer fees: $450
Unlawful Detainer filing fee: $64
Writ of Eviction: $25
Total: $3221.50 up till now. Stay tuned.
Just found this article that Bigger Pockets recently shared related to Evictions and the moratorium
Update as of 3/8/2021:
The property manager went to the condo this morning to see if the tenant vacated the premises and she was still at the property. Upon inquiring, she told us that we agreed to keep her till end of the month and that she also paid her rent. Its all false so I emailed my attorney to proceed with "writ for eviction". I really hope she improves her lifestyle because it will be hard for her to find housing with an eviction on her report.
Expenses till now because of this tenant:
Non Payment of October 2020 Rent: $1087.50
Late Fees: $145
Overstaying for February 2021: $1450
Lawyer fees: $450
Unlawful Detainer filing fee: $64
Writ of Eviction: $25
Overstaying for March Rent: $1450
Total: $4671.50 up till now. Stay tuned.
@Aj Parikh
Reading about this deters me from investing in real estate. I am a newbie and lurking on forums to get some insights and tips on real estate esp in NOVA.
How did you vet her before signing the lease? Just out of curiosity
@Rinku Sinha My realtor who got me my previous 2 tenants suggested I go with a housing voucher program. So I agreed with him. The lease started in Feb 2020 and the tenant was working in the food industry so as soon as things started shutting down due to COVID, she lost her job and she stopped responding to us hence we are in this situation.
Don’t let these situations get in your way of investing. They say about evictions that it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when you will have to go through the eviction process. I have been investing for 7 years now and this is my 1st eviction so it’s part of doing business. You deal with it and move on.
@Aj Parikh
Yes! I would like to know more. I have sent you a connection request.
@Rinku Sinha Can't say I blame you given Aj's story. Upside is, beyond it being a bit of a riveting one, his experience takes some of the surprise out of how a bad tenant can react, and you'll have a better idea what to do when it's your turn. Though, hopefully your future tenant stories will be boring -- but profitable.
Update as of 3/16/2021:
I received a call from the Deputy from Fairfax County and they will be at the condo on April 6th at 11 am and I have to arrange for a locksmith to do the lock change in front of him. If the tenant hasn't moved out by then, the tenant again gets till 5 pm to move all their belongings and I am not supposed to give them the keys to the new lock.
Hopefully they have moved out by April 6th.
Expenses till now because of this tenant:
Non Payment of October 2020 Rent: $1087.50
Late Fees: $145
Overstaying for February 2021: $1450
Lawyer fees: $450
Unlawful Detainer filing fee: $64
Writ of Eviction: $25
Overstaying for March Rent: $1450
Overstaying for April Rent: $1450
Security Deposit : ($2900)
Total: 3221.50 up till now. Stay tuned.
Since my property is in Fairfax County, I found this resource on Fairfax County website for landlord assistance. I have place the rent assistance request. It's a very seamless website. I had a property management in place for this property and they did not even know about this program. I have let them go because they were horrible at managing this tenant.
Also, here is a good resource per state if you are trying to figure out the current scenario with eviction moratorium.