Evicting Tenant After Lease Expires
I have a tenant that has not paid be for a few months. I had a verbal agreement with him that if he got caught up prior to the end of his lease that I would allow him to stay on a month to month basis. His lease expires in 2 days and I already served him with a 3-day notice to pay or quit. Once his lease has expired what is the process to get him to leave? How much notice is required and what is the overall process because he is avoiding me right now and has not responded to the 3-day notice. I have never had to do an eviction before and was just really needing some help and at the moment cannot afford to have an attorny..[ Edited by jeremywatco on Date 10/30/2004 ]
Contact your county small claims court. They will walk you through the process.
Also, on your future leases, you may want to put in a cluase that allows you to waive notice. In other words, tenant agrees that you do not haveto give them x day notice, you can proceed directly to court house.
In my experience, the process can take up to a month to get them out, so move quickly. There are plenty of opportunities for them to pay, up to the last minute when the sheriff shows up at the door. It is better to file and see if they pay, than to wait and wait to file it the hopes that they will pay.
Good Luck!
don't wait start the eviction process. you can nego. with him after you start the process. ...........km
Well.. to keep the eviction process going, his 3-day notice expires on Monday so I need to send him a 30 - 60 day notice correct? He has been there a year and I think I have to give him 60 days notice..... Also, at this point some money would be nice but the bottom line is I do not want him as a tenant anymore because of his payment history and I need to cash flow coming in, so pay or not I need him out.
Thanks for the replys.. any other input?
This is a good question for your attorney and/or accountant.
However, it is my opinion as a layman that independent contractors are just that....not an employee that needs to be figured into workman's comp figures....
the irs can look at them as employees there are strict guide lines on this matter you will need to seek advice from someone that knows the irs stance on this. if the irs sees them as employees ........well you know how the rest of it would go.........km
Thank you for the replies. A CPA has been consulted and these are his thoughts:
1. The person doing the work is considered an independent contractor under IRS guidelines.
2. This person is not an employee and thus the income is not required to be included in worker's comp payroll.
However, someone else in our housing association said their CPA disagreed; the income should be included. This prompted calls to the state worker's comp department, where we got varying opinions from different representatives:
One said the contractor is not an employee so the income is not included.
Another said the income must be included because the W.C. payroll includes licensed or unlicensed contractors.
The third said the income must be included only if the independent contractor is not covered by worker's comp from another source.
The research continues- I appreciate the feedback.
Tracy
only hire subs. that have w/c if that is even possible. km
in my area some contractors are only hiring subs with w/c or so they say ........km
Hello km,
Good idea. But in reality, many of the handymen/maintenance people that many owners I know hire for small jobs don't have w.c. Please note that I'm not talking about the chance of getting caught for not reporting income- I'm honesty just trying to find out the law.
As I mentioned, this work is not paid under the table. But is it fraud not to add it to your w.c. payroll? I also wonder what the employer's responsibility is for determining if someone they hire has their own coverage. Do you need a sworn affidavit? :o) Is the honor system still in play here?
For the employer in question, under class code no. 9015: Building Operation, the w.c. premium is 20.92% of payroll. Not an insignificant amount.
Thanks again,
Tracy
Generally WC is not required to be carried at all by Owner for his Ind. Cntrctr (IC), or by sole proprietor who's doing odd, one-time job for the Owner.
The way I insure my own compliance is to have the IC sign a little written agreement stating:
-He is NOT my employee
-I'm not controlling how, when he works
-I'm supplying no tools or materials
-He has insurance and bond as required by his state.
I even went to the trouble of looking up WA law on this and found that "one- employee" employer is not required to carry WC, and a homeowner is not required to make sure their one man IC has WC.
When I rrecently had some roof repairs done on one of my rentals I had my roof repair guy sign such a disclaimer statement which then went into a file which I'll keep for several years...this is my insurance!
You can quickly check any state's rules and law re WC by finding and calling that state Labor & Industries, or Workers Comp Division or Agency @ the state capital.
FYI, I once handled a widow's WC Death Claim against a WC insurance co., when the truck co. made their truck driver (her deceased Hsbnd) sign an Employment Agreement, specifically setting out his hours, routes, call in procedures, etc.
The co. lawyer had done a terrible job on the contract that basically twisted their IC into being an Employee !
That WC insurer paid us a lot of money that would have been avoided had the truck co lawyer not made my lady's deceased H into an employee when he really shouldn't have been.
Hi John,
I appreciate your comments. And I like the idea of the written agreement you have contractors sign for your protection.
Still, I'd like to know the actual law here in California. I will try the state worker's comp office again and see if I can get a definitive answer. Most of the owners I know do not include this type of payroll in their w.c. reporting, and many feel I'm foolish for even looking into it (because knowingly committing fraud is quite different than unknowingly doing the same). In fairness, I think charging 20% of payroll for premiums is ridiculous.
Thanks,
Tracy