Anyone have a tenant evicted?

[DebMcDonald]

Can you sare your experiences. This is my first eviction in 15 years of owning a rental property. They have not paid rent since November (and wrote that check on a closed account). They received the initial paperwork from the attorney and court saying they needed to be out by December 31, she said she would be out by January 31, she actually moved out and left her 18 year old son behind who is now referred to as a "squatter", we just filed the second round and are awaiting a court date and I wondered at that point how fast I'll actually get them out. I'm under the impression that with Connecticut law, with failure to pay rent they do get them out rather quickly (though we are currently on the 3 month plan....)

The are also heating the house using the stove and electric heaters, (wrote their last oil payment on a closed account also). I called the building department and it's not illegal to heat your house with these things and according to the neighbor the house is just filthly beyond belief.

 

[cjnix29]

Honestly, evictions are really a creature of state law. It depends on what CT says. I was an attorney and used to do them regularly. Once you have the decree from the court, it will give a specified number of days and the sheriff goes and kicks them out. In my county, they would literally start putting their stuff on the street. Be very thankful this is your first one in all those years of renting!

 

[akcire]

My husband and I don't bother to evict people in IL anymore (nor have we had may tenants where this situation would apply). It can take over a year and leave us with a destroyed property. Also the proceedings are expensive.

Instead we pay them to move. We offer them X number of dollars to vacate and promise not to sue them for back rent. They sign a letter stating they are leaving by choice by a certain date. We explain there is no flexibility on the date and that if they choose to do this we need to see the apartment today, and the apartment needs to remain in the same condition. Generally we give them 5-10 days to get out. In the past we have even provided boxes. Since we began this policy, every one has taken us up on the deal. It is cheaper for us than an eviction and it takes less time.

At first this bothered me, as if I was rewarding people for bad behavior. Now I realize it is just a business decision, that saves us thousands of dollars.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

CT takes FOREVER to get them out even for non payment. You send teh 1st notice, court date, they respond, court date, etc, etc. I can take many months to get them out. Good luck.

 

[tlbwriter]

My husband and I don't bother to evict people in IL anymore (nor have we had may tenants where this situation would apply). It can take over a year and leave us with a destroyed property. Also the proceedings are expensive.

Instead we pay them to move. We offer them X number of dollars to vacate and promise not to sue them for back rent. They sign a letter stating they are leaving by choice by a certain date. We explain there is no flexibility on the date and that if they choose to do this we need to see the apartment today, and the apartment needs to remain in the same condition. Generally we give them 5-10 days to get out. In the past we have even provided boxes. Since we began this policy, every one has taken us up on the deal. It is cheaper for us than an eviction and it takes less time.

At first this bothered me, as if I was rewarding people for bad behavior. Now I realize it is just a business decision, that saves us thousands of dollars.

That's actually a really good idea. I'm sure it does save quite a bit of money. Have you had anyone turn down your offer?

OP, I'm wondering if the laws are different for an out-and-out squatter (someone who never signed a lease) vs a legal renter. I mean, you didn't know the squatter was related to the renter, and thought it was just a random homeless person, would you have to go through the courts? Or could you just call the police and say "someone is squatting in my rental house?"

 

[luvmarypoppins]

As another poster said, our lawyer advised us to offer them cash to get them out which we did. He told us it would be cheaper than court costs, possibly having a judge side with them and on top of that our lawyers fee of $400 an hour etc.

The tenants took Alot of money from us. Then he even callled dh and had the nerve to ask for the security deposit back. Dh kept the security.

The place was filthy and they skipped out on tons of bills and moved to FL.
We live in NY and our property is in NJ.

I would never be a landlord again, but we inherited the property and havent been able to sell it yet. We have 2 houses and only 1 tenant now who's rent barely pays for the taxes on both houses, insurance, landscaper etc.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Everyone of you have said something that hits so close to home.

Our attorney did encourge us to pay them to move, but I just couldn't do it, emotionally it's just wrong, but long and short I probably should have.

The house was something I bought from my grandparents who live on the same street, so wasn't something I could consider selling until last year and at that time she was paying rent.

We think the squatter is her son and she moved and left him behind, looks like he's living on an air mattress is in the living room, I figure by April they will shut his electricity off for failure to pay and then with no lights, no hot water and no heat, maybe he will consider getting out on his own, of course the house would be trashed at that point anyway.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is that there are people out there that live like this - to take advantage of someone else. My husband was unemployed for the first year of her living in his house and I would explain to her that I still had a mortgage to pay, but clearly it wasn't her problem. I guess I never realized that paying for a place to live is not a necessity.....

 

[kelcoppens]

Im not familiar with laws on this.... but cant you just go to the house and change the locks?? And lock the windows too?

 

[rvchat]

No. Not in the state we live in anyway. ONly with a court order, a sheriff / policeman, can you change locks.

Unfair but I guess it protects the 'innocent'. ??? Not sure at all.

 

[rvchat]

No. Not in the state we live in anyway. ONly with a court order, a sheriff / policeman, can you change locks.

Unfair but I guess it protects the 'innocent'. ??? Not sure at all.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Im not familiar with laws on this.... but cant you just go to the house and change the locks?? And lock the windows too?

OMG No , I would be in court for sure for that one. It's logical and a makes sense, but you can't do it.

 

[tlbwriter]

No. Not in the state we live in anyway. ONly with a court order, a sheriff / policeman, can you change locks.

But that would be if you have a tenant, right? How could anyone forbid you to change your locks on your own house once your tenant claims she has moved out?

 

[rvchat]

Talking about when a person is 'living' in your rental.

Of course, when they vacate, you change locks. But you cannot (again, in my state) change locks or throw items out of a person who is living in your place/rental.

 

[rvchat]

Talking about when a person is 'living' in your rental.

Of course, when they vacate, you change locks. But you cannot (again, in my state) change locks or throw items out of a person who is living in your place/rental.

 

[akcire]

That's actually a really good idea. I'm sure it does save quite a bit of money. Have you had anyone turn down your offer?

No, they all take the deal. I am pretty persuasive. An eviction is a minimum of a $15,000 cost to me 9+ months rent, legal fees, not to mention damages. If I can give someone $1500-$2000 I come out ahead.

Now I don't make a practice of renting to people where this will be a problem, but every once in a while I make a bad pick, or someone's situation changes dramatically.

Ironically, (I hold my property in individual corporations) I once had the same person fill out an application for another property I owned, that I had just paid to leave my other building 3 years earlier. Shockingly, she was not approved!

Tenants and squatters have tons of rights in IL, and the courts take forever. In the house I live in, my next door neighbor choose to rent his single family house out, two months into the lease the tenants stopped paying rent. I told him to pay them to get out of there. He declined my advise. The "tenants" were professional deadbeats, they knew the law well and hired a lawyer themselves. It took him 15 months to get them evicted. When he added up his costs: lost rent, legal fees, and damages he spent just under $100,000. The rent was not that much I think $2000 a month; but they destroyed the house. All the flooring, drywall, doors and trim had to be replaced in a 3000 square foot house, along with the deck and some exterior windows. He hired a cleaning service, once they were out and 4 ladies spent two full days cleaning (the upside for me was I found a new really good cleaning service for my building). The entire lawn was destroyed, and so was the shed in the back yard.

I had to write a letter giving him (the owner) permission to be in my back yard--so he could try and keep tabs. His "tenants" would call the police if they saw him, so with the letter he could at least say he was at my house. If the "tenants" did not end up in a domestic situation where I ended up calling the police I don't know if he would have ever gotten them out of there. The "tenants" had a bunch of kids 5 or 6, not really sure; and I was always friendly to the kids (not their fault their parents are deadbeats). Well the dad beat the crap out of 7 year old and she came over to my house crying and bloody. I had her wait in the garage with me and another neighbor (who is a mandatory reporter in IL) while I called the Sheriff (wanted to make certain we didn't get accused of beating the kid). The dad got hauled off to jail, and about two weeks later, they were gone.

I have had great success as a landlord over the past 10 years, but there are certainly some nefarious people looking to find ways of living for free. In addition to being dead beat tenants ( and in the father's case a child beater), these people were also professional identity thieves. While they lived next to me, the state and federal authorities served a couple of warrants on the house and took van loads of print material and computers out of the house. The second time it happened, one of the other neighbors asked the cops why they were there, and the cops told her it was related to identity theft and internet fraud. Just so we are clear, I live in a really nice suburb.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Was the 18-year old actually an official renter - i.e. was he a party to the rental/lease agreement? If not, it seems like you wouldn't have to go through legal channels to get him out. It sounds like he truly is a "squatter" and you could go and change the locks anytime you wanted, as long as the actual person with whom you made the rental agreement was gone. In fact, he's committing a crime by occupying the building and it seems to me that the police should be involved in getting him out.

My parents have been landlords of multiple homes for years. They've done several evictions. They always give the non-paying tenants a reasonable amount of time to vacate. If they don't, an eviction in California involves getting a court order and presenting it to the tenants with two police officers and a locksmith standing by. If the tenants are not home, they enter the building, remove any personal belongings and change the locks. The tenants are told the date and time of the eviction and have always left before then. But they frequently leave behind a lot of their junk that my parents have to deal with.

My uncle owns several commercial buildings. A few years ago, he hired a handyman to make some repairs and paint the interior of a vacant building. The guy and his dog moved in! My uncle found his clothes and camp stove one day when he went by to check on the place. Since the guy was considered a squatter, my uncle didn't need an eviction notice from the court. He just took my brother (who is a locksmith) over one day and had him change the locks. The guy wasn't happy about finding his things in the alley, but there wasn't anything he could do about it!

 

[mistysue]

California laws sound nice!

My dad has three apartments and two store fronts. In the last 5 years or so he has paid two people to move out of his apartments. The first couple actually called him one night and said "we aren't leaving, but if you buy us a trailer we will get out."
He also lost about $25,000 or so on a tenant ripping apart one of the stores while occupying it and refusing to pay rent for about 9 months before they left by choice! The courts were still going to give them more time. They tore walls half way down, removed the toilets and sinks, took out the flooring and removed parts of the ceilings. He got them out and they have a court order to pay him back... at a minimum of $100/month and it after 7 years the remaining debt is "to be forgiven." Of course he gets his $100 most months... but it's amazing that they basically get away with only paying back $8400 IF they stay in business that long anyways.

 

[Kimberly]

Can you sare your experiences. This is my first eviction in 15 years of owning a rental property. They have not paid rent since November (and wrote that check on a closed account). They received the initial paperwork from the attorney and court saying they needed to be out by December 31, she said she would be out by January 31, she actually moved out and left her 18 year old son behind who is now referred to as a "squatter", we just filed the second round and are awaiting a court date and I wondered at that point how fast I'll actually get them out. I'm under the impression that with Connecticut law, with failure to pay rent they do get them out rather quickly (though we are currently on the 3 month plan....)

The are also heating the house using the stove and electric heaters, (wrote their last oil payment on a closed account also). I called the building department and it's not illegal to heat your house with these things and according to the neighbor the house is just filthly beyond belief.

My parents own a rental in NJ, and evicted their first person in about the same amount of time you have. This woman only paid a month of rent, and then used every legal loophole in the book to stay in the apartment rent free (using her kids, and then getting a medical waiver) for nearly a year. It finally came to a tipping point where this woman threatened my mother with her car while she was walking from her car to the office and the police were involved.

Even after all that though.. what got her out was the offer of giving the tenant cash. In her case, it was a 500 dollar advance to remove herself from the property by the end of the week. It may sound painful to do especially with non-paying tenant, but most would not even think twice about this opportunity. Make sure it is in writing and have a real estate attorney go over it. That way you won't get screwed out of even more money.

PM me if you have any more questions. I was the one who suggested to my parents on how to get this woman out. They were against it at first, but they have a new tenant they couldn't be happier with.

 

[Carlyzmom]

Honestly, our situation with renters was so bad, I can't even stand to talk about it! People can be such scum! I would NEVER have rental property again. Sorry to be such a downer.
Good luck anyway. Some previous posters do have some good ideas, though.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

California laws sound nice!

It is not.. There are so many hoops and bells you have to jump through to obtain an eviction. In the process of this now. First you have to serve a three day, if they don't pay then you have an attorney file for an unlawful retainer. They have to be served personally... try to find them. Then after that a court date is set. If they appear to contest it the process doubles in time. If they don't show you 'win' and the process continues. They are given X amount of time to move out, if they don't the sherriff will help them get out and you can change the locks. This process will take a min of 10 - 12 weeks.... If you made an error anywhere - serving the 3day etc the entire process must be started over from the beginning.

As for the 'extra' tenant - you can not simply lock him out. Believe it or not he has rights. But in CA to try to prevent this you serve the person whose name is on the lease as well as any other John Doe's currently residing in the property. This usually will cover the extra people the tenant has moved in after the fact without your permission,

Good luck...... hope it goes quickly for you