Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
Many Landlords have no idea how to get rid of a tenant, whether it's for non-payment of rent or for lease violations. This is even more obvious as the eviction moratorium stretches to almost a year now.
Share your best tips and techniques for getting rid of bad tenants without using the court system.
Because I always told the renters I was the "handyman", I could usually get to the property without an issue. talk some crap about the owner and then remove the front door of the house to trim the bottom, and just not return.
It's amazing how a tenant stops hiding from you when he wants a door to the front of his house. Not recently, but it works every time!
Recently I have had two evictions that worked well. Respectful communication right away saves the games. When I play games, The Electric and Gas supply to the property suddenly stops for some reason. Most tactics depend on the situation.
Because I always told the renters I was the "handyman", I could usually get to the property without an issue. talk some crap about the owner and then remove the front door of the house to trim the bottom, and just not return.
It's amazing how a tenant stops hiding from you when he wants a door to the front of his house. Not recently, but it works every time!
Recently I have had two evictions that worked well. Respectful communication right away saves the games. When I play games, The Electric and Gas supply to the property suddenly stops for some reason. Most tactics depend on the situation.
In the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at least, this is how you end up three in a cell giving up more than Eskimo kisses to your bunkmates.
Removing a door, shutting off utilities, and sending some pipe-swinging m-f'ers would be against the law. I love creativity, but we have to discuss options that are legal.
The day I opened my front door to federal agents from Homeland Security and the IRS flashing their badges and handing me a federal grand jury subpoena was the last day I entertained revenge fantasies like that. Their next stop was my wife's place of work to serve her. And then they got us into the federal courthouse downtown with a US Assistant District Attorney and showed us copies of our bank records and canceled checks. No threats necessary. I am not ashamed to admit I almost pissed myself.
But I'll be damned if it didn't wise me up real good.
I don't like the idea of cash for keys. I am curious what legal obligations a landlord has to actually give the tenant the cash after they have moved out? Is a verbal contract for something like cash for keys even enforceable? Even if there were a written contract the tenant did not hold their end of the original contract which is in the form of the lease, so why would a landlord feel the need to actually give them anything at all if they have actually moved out and handed over the keys?
I don't like the idea of cash for keys. I am curious what legal obligations a landlord has to actually give the tenant the cash after they have moved out? Is a verbal contract for something like cash for keys even enforceable? Even if there were a written contract the tenant did not hold their end of the original contract which is in the form of the lease, so why would a landlord feel the need to actually give them anything at all if they have actually moved out and handed over the keys?
Fear is the driving force if ethics is not enough. Mad renters who think they were mistreated can return and you windows can be broken and the house destroyed.
@Daniel Smyth Please don't be THAT landlord (slumlord). It's situations like yours that give us legitimate landlords a bad name. Just this week in Cook County they passed an ordinance outlining responsibilities for landlords and tenants because of the many shady things slumlords do. There are many penalties for landlords who violate the rules like you.
It stinks and it's a pain in the butt, but we have to follow the legal system. Also, us landlords have to be human beings. I realize many tenants play the system, but many tenants also fall on hard times and have legitimate reasons. What if something bad happened to you, your family, friends, etc. Would you want your landlord or mortgage lender to do to you what you do to your tenants? Let's all please follow the rules.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure": careful tenant screening, inspecting properties regularly, and perhaps most importantly: serving the notice to pay or quit promptly every time rent is late are key steps to take to avoid situations where one might need to evict. I just explain that no hard feelings are meant, but serving the proper notice when rent is late is my strictest company policy that I never waiver on. I explain that the process will be halted as soon as they pay their rent (with the late fee), and that my mortgage payments for the property are due which doesn't give me a lot of flexibility in the matter. I get the paperwork rolling immediately no matter what their excuse is, just in case they don't fulfill that most crucial part of the lease. Doing this promptly on the exact date rent is late every single time helps me avoid having to take it to the next step because it sends the message that late rent will not be tolerated and encourages tenants to make their rent payment a high priority as a habit.
When it is necessary to follow through with the next steps in the eviction process, I find serving the next round of paperwork combined with a stern conversation about their future as it relates to damaged credit, garnished wages, dealing with a collections agency, ability to rent again or receive Section 8 vouchers etc., usually works well enough and rarely do I have to follow up with the actual court eviction. We can usually reach an agreement on when they will pay or be out at that point, without actually having to get the sheriff to move them out.
CO has one of the shortest timeframes to evict in the country however, so that certainly helps with the stick part of the carrot/stick equation. I've never had to resort to cash for keys thankfully. Personally I hate the idea and would avoid it if at all possible based simply on principle. However I will forgive past due rent and halt the eviction process immediatley if a bad tenant leaves promptly and doesn't damage the property on their way out.
I have friends and family with properties in parts of the country where it takes 5 months and costs $5k just in legal fees to evict, and they certainly use cash for keys or other "outside the court" eviction tactics more in those areas. They usually "have a guy for that". I'm glad the courts are on our side here in CO for the most part: evictions for non-payment of rent are always pretty quick here which keeps tenants on their best behavior in my experience, and makes "outside the court" stuff unnecessary.
Be happy you are not in NYC Nathan. See below for my hard knock life story below.
My First Two Years as an Owner-Occupied Multifamily Property Landlord in NYC
By @Mrahman2008
In March 2015, I bought a 2-family home in the Morris Park section of the Bronx, NYC. I was excited beyond words. I was able to purchase and own a piece of property which in theory could not be beat: appreciate in value each year, tax incentives, and I build up equity as time passes. It made so much sense when compared to just paying rent, which was paying someone else’s mortgage.
What no one told me was all the “other” expenses that came along with owning a multifamily home. The heat had to always be at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit half the year or tenants would call 311 and get me fined (gas to keep the house warm cost me $850/month because of the poor insulation). If trash and recycles are sorted out incorrectly you get hit with a $100 (up to $300) fine from the sanitation department each time. Maintenance was averaging $300-$500 per month because I was useless in solving any house-related issues (never having done any maintenance myself before). Water bill was averaging $300/month. Electricity was $250/month. I got Terminix termite protection plan after a termite scare that averaged out to $150/month and also a pest control plan at $70/month. I even signed up for Homeserve after a while for basic house issues which came out to $65/month (a real life saver). The internet, phone, TV plan came out to $30/month because I worked for Cablevision that time, which owned Optimum. It didn’t help that the house needed some fixing and I spent $22,000 to fix up the first floor apartment and basement.
The year 2015 was a very tough learning experience. I spent much more than I should have because I failed to understand all that was required of being a homeowner and also having tenants. One of the tenants used to work with me in Cablevision and asked me about the spare apartment I had in my house. We arranged a lease and he moved in on June 1st, 2015. Then in November of 2015 things started going bad. The tenants started having guests over which were a mixture of family and friends. Those family and friends started staying weeks, then close to a month. I made it clear to the tenants that the lease doesn’t allow so many extra people living there (10+ more people!). Long story short they started paying rent late and then January 2016 was the last time they paid rent ($1,800/month). I tried to reason with them but they refused to pay the rent, to kick out the extra people, and also refused to leave the apartment.
The tenants started to have fights which damaged the property, parties, smoking marijuana inside the home and in front of the house, and getting into altercations with my neighbors. The neighbors complained continuously to me and after all the disrespect, I decided to hire a lawyer to start the eviction proceedings. My girlfriend at the time had less patience than me. Instead of supporting me and giving me strength to keep my anger inwards, she started provoking them. I knew this plan of actions would prolong housing court eviction process (especially since one of the squatters had children). It was a very tough time and everything in my soul wanted me to knock out and beat these deadbeat tenants to a pulp. I even found out one of the squatters was a BackPage prostitute (one that had two children) with random men and groups of men coming in and out of the apartment. While this all occurred, I called police officers repeatedly, sometime for 3-6 hours straight, and cops never came. When they did come, they came 5+ hours later when the issue was clearly gone (usually at 4am, surprised the issue was gone at 4am when I have been calling since 9pm the previous day?).
My eviction case was dismissed by the VERY biased Bronx Housing Court Judge last minute because of a technicality, all because I would not let the illegal tenants stay 90 days extra (they are not even on the lease). They missed their court date twice, and on the second day came late at 12pm after the 11am call, and they were supposed to be there at 9:30am. Court attorney still let them proceed in the case. Then the tenant left, leaving his "fiance" behind named as Jane Doe, and still let the case be heard.
I started another case with another lawyer and finally had an official eviction date on September 30th, 2016. I paid for the Marshalls to come in advance because these squatters were making my life hell. They provoked fights with me but I did not give in. They keyed my car. They called police officers saying I was harassing them. They lied about me turning the heat off and electricity off. They would throw trash all over the property and cut garbage bags. And of course, the judge did not care and cops never came to help. The cops refused to file a police report. I ended up paying the squatters to leave because they were going to drag this out especially the prostitute with both her special needs children (no doubt that way because of her hard drug and alcohol use).
Little did I know that these scum put holes in every single wall, broke the radiators, water pipes, toilet, bathtub, and etc. The contractors all came around $40,000 to fix the apartment (essentially a gut rehab). I was able to negotiate $32,000 in total. I have lost my entire life’s savings from losses upon losses endured in 2015 and 2016. Now I have cases pending against the original tenants for missed rent and damages, and also for the squatters for missed rent and damages.
What I have learned in the first two years is that background checks, cosigners, and also 3 months deposit would definitely alleviate some of the issues I faced as a new landlord. I consider the last two years the best class in land-lording. I learned how worst case scenario tenants could be, how ineffective/helpful the NYPD are, and how one-sided housing court is in NYC. I also learned to make sure you have 6-9 months of mortgage and expenses set aside because if you depend on rental income to cover house-related expenses with no emergency fund, you will find yourself in foreclosure.
@Lynnette E. Please don't take my comment as anything that I would do personally. I was asking the question because I would assume a tenant would ask the same thing or at least have it running through their mind.
I paid a tenant $1,000 once to move. They had missed the 1st of the month rent and told me they had lost their job two months earlier so I offered to pay them $1,000 and forgive the month's rent only they needed to move out within the week and leave things clean so I could paint and get it rented out quickly. My chances of collecting from them were nil and if they were not high paid skilled labor chances were that any new job would be low pay. My experience was if I needed to pay a lawyer to evict id still lose three months rent so lost Two months rent without legal fees and got a new tenant. Our vacancies have always been low so knew I could rent out immediately.
@Nathan G. How many violations before you, or the average landlord, would need before eviction? I want to know before even get my first rental. Thanks!
You can’t, it will always turn into a legal battle in court. You can serve them with papers saying that you intend to take legal action for whatever the situation us and give them the indent yo vacate forms. But if they sign them and don’t leave. You will still have to take it to court, but the court will be more in your favor for the fact the the tenant did sign the intent to vacate form, but did not vacate. @Nathan G.
