Landlord and Eviction

[philly0128]

Hello guys, I have a situation and after 7 years of renting this is the 1st time I have someone give me issues about moving.

I have a tenant who moved in back in 09 (not sec 8 but was getting rail road mcr for 3 kids) so she had more than enough coming in. with the 1st month there was an issue with her money where it took weeks for me to get paid and that trend followed for about 4 months.

09 to now she owes me about 1800 over time. Even when her money was coming in on time from RRM she always had something that came up where she couldn't pay or had to skip a month and try to catch up.  In the mean time I had to replace the roof and do some other major/minor repairs.

The last straw was she took my rent and loaned it to a friend who didn't pay her back. when I went to see her the story change to her Son was is in jail and used it for a lawyer. At that point I finally decided to Evict because she texted me and told me "Do what I need to do, she understands"

The same day I went to see her I also went to see some things I needed to repair, once she got the letter, she’s been making it hard for my contractor to get in to get the work done. Now she sent me a letter stating she’s not paying me until the repairs are done

What she wants done “ the living room/dining room has different colors” the living room has popcorn ceiling so you can see where a patch was made, kitchen sink need calking, living room floor need new panel, living room ceiling need repair and paint, all windows need to be replaced and a light switch recently stopped working”

(I’m not a slum lord, we painted the rooms again for her weeks after she moved in, replaced the kitchen sink and now she damaged it, the floor panels is the original that came w/ the house, it’s about ½ inch off the floor b/c the house was once carpet) and none of these things was presented to me until now

I’m waiting for the Court now to give me my date.  When I thought the payment issues was over we renewed her lease for the year ending in April 2012, both my lease states that late payments breaks the lease and that’s what she’s fighting against. I gave her the normal 60 days (ending around oct 22nd)

So I want to know from you guys would the Court Honor my original 60 days?
Would the court accept a Notarize letter from my contractor showing the dates he contacted her and she kept him from coming?

Any advice on what I should/may expect to happen?

Like I said all my past evictions never did I have any objections so after 7 yrs this is new for me

Thanks for reading
Philly0128
 

[justin0419]

Good ole "blue state" LL/tenant laws...  Late rent and 60 days should not even be in the same discussion.  What does your lease say about repairs?  You should be able to go in there and fix things when the tenant requests or after giving the tenant notice that you're going to enter the property.  There might also be something in your state's LL/tenant laws about holding rent in lieu of repairs.  In my state, the tenant has to give me a request in writing and then give me 30 days to fix the problem.  If I still haven't fixed it after 30 days, they can withold rent until the problem is fixed.  In my state, I am not allowed to collect partial payments of rent after I've given the tenant notice.  If I do, I have to give a new notice and start the timeline all over again. 
So much of this depends on how the laws are there and what the court will do. 

[jfpen]

Hello guys, I have a situation and after 7 years of renting this is the 1st time I have someone give me issues about moving.

I have a tenant who moved in back in 09 (not sec 8 but was getting rail road mcr for 3 kids) so she had more than enough coming in. with the 1st month there was an issue with her money where it took weeks for me to get paid and that trend followed for about 4 months.

09 to now she owes me about 1800 over time. Even when her money was coming in on time from RRM she always had something that came up where she couldn't pay or had to skip a month and try to catch up.  In the mean time I had to replace the roof and do some other major/minor repairs.

The last straw was she took my rent and loaned it to a friend who didn't pay her back. when I went to see her the story change to her Son was is in jail and used it for a lawyer. At that point I finally decided to Evict because she texted me and told me "Do what I need to do, she understands"

The same day I went to see her I also went to see some things I needed to repair, once she got the letter, she’s been making it hard for my contractor to get in to get the work done. Now she sent me a letter stating she’s not paying me until the repairs are done

What she wants done “ the living room/dining room has different colors” the living room has popcorn ceiling so you can see where a patch was made, kitchen sink need calking, living room floor need new panel, living room ceiling need repair and paint, all windows need to be replaced and a light switch recently stopped working”

(I’m not a slum lord, we painted the rooms again for her weeks after she moved in, replaced the kitchen sink and now she damaged it, the floor panels is the original that came w/ the house, it’s about ½ inch off the floor b/c the house was once carpet) and none of these things was presented to me until now

I’m waiting for the Court now to give me my date.  When I thought the payment issues was over we renewed her lease for the year ending in April 2012, both my lease states that late payments breaks the lease and that’s what she’s fighting against. I gave her the normal 60 days (ending around oct 22nd)

So I want to know from you guys would the Court Honor my original 60 days?
Would the court accept a Notarize letter from my contractor showing the dates he contacted her and she kept him from coming?

Any advice on what I should/may expect to happen?

Like I said all my past evictions never did I have any objections so after 7 yrs this is new for me

Thanks for reading
Philly0128
 

In my state this would be considered a retaliatory complaint. She makes complaints about repairs after she finds out she is being evicted. I would document the dates/times of any communication with her. Any color matching, or other esthetic upgrade complaints are trivial. Those conditions were there when she signed the lease.  Any deficiency that could be a safety issue or minimum housing violation should  be fixed immediately. I would also do any repair that will prevent further damage to your property.

You should be evicting her for NON-PAYMENT not late payment of rent. Find out what the procedure is in your state and follow it carefully. In my state the rent is not late until the 15th. I must send out a demand for payment notice after that date, not before. If I send it before that date, the case will be thrown out.  Incidentally, I don't chase my tenants for rent. They know I expect it on the 1st. If they have a problem, they contact me. I will listen to their excuses/reasons as a courtesy but that doesn't prevent me from sending out the notice and starting eviction procedures immediately.

JP

[andydallas]

reading this makes me really glad I'm in Texas

[Hoosier4life2005]

reading this makes me really glad I'm in Texas

  

How would this situation play out in Dallas?  How long does it take to get somebody out of your rental and such if they arent paying?

Just curious because TX (Dallas in particular) is probably going to happen eventually for me.

[Bluemoon06]

In Texas you give them a 3 day notice after the 5th day the rent is not paid.  After that 3 days is over (day 8) you file for eviction at the JP court ($80).  You are given a court date which is probably the 15th or so.  The constable serves the tenant all you have to do is show up with your receipt book and a copy of the lease on that court date.  90% of the time the tenant doesn’t show up and you get the judgment.  1 in 100 the tenant will show up with money.  Make sure they give you ALL OF THE MONEY (late fees court costs next month’s rent etc.) or go ahead with the trial and throw them out.  1 out of 100 the tenant shows up with no money.  I only had this happen once.  The judge asks them did they pay and can they prove they paid.  (In Texas there is no defense for not paying the rent) they could have maintenance issues, rodent issues, it doesn’t matter the judge doesn’t care and they have to prove they paid you like a cancelled check or something.  You always get your writ of possession.  The writ is usually available in about 2 days (day 17) you give the writ to the sheriff with ($90) and the sheriff shows up in about a week (with a badge and a gun) accompanied by a truck and labor to haul all their stuff out.  As soon as everything of “value” is out the sheriff calls you and says the house is empty.  You go over and change the locks and call him back and he says you now have possession of your house and if the tenant comes back call the cops and charge them with trespassing.  (day 20 or so).

The problem is that these days are set in stone.  The JP doesn’t do evictions everyday.  He usually does it one to 2 days a month.  If you miss his eviction day you will have to wait until next month.  Eviction day is timed to allow these days that normally occur(5th 7th etc).  So if you wait until the 15th to serve the 3 day letter you will be into the next calendar month easily.  Always send the3 day letter.  It doesn’t cost anything and it can save you 2 months on a deadbeat.

[Hoosier4life2005]

In Texas you give them a 3 day notice after the 5th day the rent is not paid.  After that 3 days is over (day 8) you file for eviction at the JP court ($80).  You are given a court date which is probably the 15th or so.  The constable serves the tenant all you have to do is show up with your receipt book and a copy of the lease on that court date.  90% of the time the tenant doesn’t show up and you get the judgment.  1 in 100 the tenant will show up with money.  Make sure they give you ALL OF THE MONEY (late fees court costs next month’s rent etc.) or go ahead with the trial and throw them out.  1 out of 100 the tenant shows up with no money.  I only had this happen once.  The judge asks them did they pay and can they prove they paid.  (In Texas there is no defense for not paying the rent) they could have maintenance issues, rodent issues, it doesn’t matter the judge doesn’t care and they have to prove they paid you like a cancelled check or something.  You always get your writ of possession.  The writ is usually available in about 2 days (day 17) you give the writ to the sheriff with ($90) and the sheriff shows up in about a week (with a badge and a gun) accompanied by a truck and labor to haul all their stuff out.  As soon as everything of “value” is out the sheriff calls you and says the house is empty.  You go over and change the locks and call him back and he says you now have possession of your house and if the tenant comes back call the cops and charge them with trespassing.  (day 20 or so).

The problem is that these days are set in stone.  The JP doesn’t do evictions everyday.  He usually does it one to 2 days a month.  If you miss his eviction day you will have to wait until next month.  Eviction day is timed to allow these days that normally occur(5th 7th etc).  So if you wait until the 15th to serve the 3 day letter you will be into the next calendar month easily.  Always send the3 day letter.  It doesn’t cost anything and it can save you 2 months on a deadbeat.

Thank you