Is This Legal And Can I Be Taken To Court ? Can I Evict?

davese profile photo

Hi,

I have a Tenant/Buyer that I have a Lease agreement and a Option Agreement with in one of my properties.

In my Lease agreement I have a paragraph that states that no one other than him will reside in the dwelling. (SFR) I also have a paragraph that he is to have water and power turned on (in his name) before he can occupy the dwelling. And that he can not live there without these utilities.

I had them (Power and Electric) turned on to rehab the place before he moved in, I also verbally agreed to leave on for one month for him to get the deposits to have them put into his name (New account) since he did put up about 8k to move in.

My questions are this, (I am about to send him the following e-mail AND Letter first class mail) are these legitimate demands and IF needed can I evict (I do not want to and that is NOT my intention) based on these items? I just want to make sure he understands that I expect what is told to me (in return I do what I say I will) and if not and in breach of the Lease agreement, I CAN evict.

Thank you

[quote]
Per your statements to me on March 24th 2005.

I have yet to receive the Name, SSN, DOB and DL # for the person you have living with you. Per the Lease agreement you are not to have another person living there. Now per our conversation about this we discussed what I am requesting here in this e-mail about this person.

Please provide this information within 3 days of the date of this electronic notice or you will be in breach of the agreement.

Also the Utilities (Electric, Sewer, Garbage and Water) must be placed in your name, your account within 7 days of the date of this electronic notice. Please note that on the Lease agreement you will not be able to occupy the premises until these services are turned on. These services will be discontinued (taken out of our name) on the 7th day from the date of this electronic notice.

If the utilities are not turned on by you within the 7 days and they are turned off,
1. You will not be able to occupy the premises until they are turned on and
2. You are still bound by the lease agreement and full payment of rent will be due.


Please call me with any questions or concerns.
[quote][ Edited by davese on Date 03/31/2005 ]

Comments(6)

  • ready2close31st March, 2005

    If I may suggest that you do just a couple of things that will create a win/win for you and your tenant. First let me state that I am almost positive that you pursued real estate investments for "long term" cash flow. This will be accomplished better by finding the "solutions" instead of leaning on the problem. Are you planning to sell the property to this individual? Are you expecting that this tenant take good care of "your" investment? I would suggest that you take a breath, have a professional conversation with the person and find out if there is anything you can do to assist them. If they need more time, that you would be willing to accommodate them with a reasonable deadline. When you really think about it, with $8K upfront doesnt that more than pay for a few meesly months of utilities? Always see the bigger picture. Let us know how you did. By the way, the only electronic notice you can give is a friendly email for proof of "follow up" communication. I doubt any court would uphold that as sufficient legal notice - plus I really think you may have over reacted. Let this be a long term relationship that converts to "purchasing client" with referrals.
    Be Blessed

  • edmeyer31st March, 2005

    I think all of the advice you are receiving is coming from the same page. I would pick up the phone and talk to the tenant and find out what is going on as a first step. You can ask when these items are going to be taken care of and inquire about the other person living in the house. Apparently you are choosing to let the other person live there if there is information forthcoming on that person.

    If you have wording in your option agreement that voids the option if terms of the lease terms are not met, you can gently remind him of this fact if necessary.

    Good luck,
    Ed

  • edmeyer1st April, 2005

    This is suggestion for your leases. You should have wording that any payment made first goes to pay any other financial obligation before being applied to rent. I have such wording in my leases primarily to address unpaid late fees. Here we can evict for non-payment of rent, but not for non-payment of late fees.

  • davese1st April, 2005

    Thank you Ed, I will do that.

  • edmeyer1st April, 2005

    Judgments are issued by the court againts an individual, group, or business entity. A lien is a financial obligation recorded on a property. The lien may come from a money judgment. With a few exceptions, liens take priority according to when they are recorded. The $5K tax lien is likely to have highest priority. Since the medical bill lien must have come after the first mortgage, it would be wiped out in a foreclosure sale.

    The house could not sell (non-foreclosure) for $115K since the medical lien would still be in place and no one would lend behind a $90K lien.

  • commercialking1st April, 2005

    More likely however you might get the judgement creditor to agree to release their lien in exchange for partial payment if you convinced them that you were paying close to what the house is worth.

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