I Really Need Ideas On This One.....(m)

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The tenant I've evicted has not left yet. She didn't show up for court so I won by default. She was given 10 days to vacate, after the tenth day I was by law allowed to go back and order a writ where the bailiffs go out and remove the tenant. Well I did that last Wednesday, so I'm waiting for the bailiff to call me and set up a day I guess. The people are still in the house. The husband is sitting, chilling on the front porch. What is with these people? I really don't want to set people out but they are leaving me no choice. Any ideas or tips I can use? I don't really want to offer them money because I've had to pay the rent myself for the last 3 months. Should I call them or something to warn them that they will be set out? I have no problem paying rent on an empty house but full grown adults will not live off of me.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

quinn

Comments(14)

  • ray_higdon18th August, 2004

    You've paid rent the last 3 months? Shame on you.

    Let the sheriff come and toss them out on their heads unless you are operating as a charity.
    [addsig]

  • quinn18th August, 2004

    What happened was that in June she didn't have the rent and said she would double in July. My husband had let her do it once before. July came and on the 4th we went and got a check from her. Something told me not to deposit it into my account. Luckily, my husband has an account with the same bank the check was written off of and I told him to have the teller verify that she had sufficient funds in her account, of course she did not. I called her pissed but she said her son was going to give her the rest of the money, blah, blah, blah. I told her that I wasn't calling her again and I didn't and the following week, I went and started the eviction process. That was in July, so here we are waiting for the bailiffs to call.

    quinn

  • ray_higdon18th August, 2004

    I would call them and let them know that the sheriff is coming anyday and they will be given 30 mins to have all their belongings out, or whatever is specific to your state, I would be calling the sheriff's office as well to see what's taking so long.

  • quinn18th August, 2004

    Thanks, I'll do that. I didn't know if it was appropriate to call or not. I'll definitely be calling the bailiffs tomorrow.

    quinn

  • rvrnorth18th August, 2004

    Call the sheriff, make sure you are around, then change the locls immediately. Sounds like they know the system, so don't get into it with them. Play it safe and let the county do what you paid them to do,

  • rajwarrior18th August, 2004

    DO NOT CALL YOUR TENANTS!

    I hope that got your attention. You've already went thru the eviction. They will be put out by the sheriff. At this point, calling them is only going to give them notice that it's okay to completely trash your property. It's probably been done already, but there is still no reason to give them notice to destroy as much stuff as possible because I've got the law coming to kick you out.

    Call the sheriff's office, find out when they are going and, as stated above, have a locksmith or new doorlocks ready to change on the spot.

    Go on with your life.

    Roger

  • ray_higdon19th August, 2004

    RajWarrior is right, since you've went through eviction, calling them wouldn't help, good advice

  • alexlev19th August, 2004

    Let's see if I can say it a different way... hmm, nope. Roger is right. You've been far too nice as it is. And you've also added to your expense by going to court and having to pay those fees. The last thing you want to do is give them a heads-up that this is the stage you're at and that they better get started if they want to completely destroy your place. Keep quiet and let the law work. Do call the sheriff to find out why they're sitting on their hands. Then after this is all over and they're gone, go to small claims court for all the rent they owe you plus the relevant court costs and any repair charges over and above the security deposit.

    Good luck.

  • PamMatthews19th August, 2004

    Gees, I think those tenants rented from me in Maine last year--same story with four in diapers. The sherriff did have to physically escort them out, and when they left my washer and dryer went with them while the law watched. I will never give one extra day again--that one cost me over $5K, and the clean up was horrendous. We softies have to callous up... consider it earning your landlord stripes and take it in stride. Now I use a tenant screening service I found online and it has helped a little--some folks make a living at living for free. Good Luck

  • quinn19th August, 2004

    Thank you guys, this is why I love this site!!!
    I called the Bailiffs today, my writ was signed on the 13th, I left my name, number, and case number, hopefully they'll be calling back soon. The people in the house are in their late 60's, the husband is maybe 76-77. They also have a few kids living there. I hope they don't tear the place up. I feel bad because they are older. I bought the house from them when they were in foreclosure and I let them stay and rent from me. The wife was saying how her husband was old and close to dying and she wanted him to stay in his house. They have an adult daughter living there who is blind. I know she is getting Social Security, the husband is a GM retiree, and is probably getting medicare, why can't they pay the rent? I found out from my broker, the one I got the deal from in the first place, that the wife is a gambler. When we went over there the last time, my husband went in to get the check, when he came out I asked if they had clear TV reception. Their television is in the living room by the door. He said, yea. That means they have cable. Most channels don't show clearly without cable. I hate evicting old people but they gave me no choice. Well, better now than in the winter.
    Sorry, to release like this, I just kind of feel bad cause they are old. But she did give me a bad check knowing there was not enough money to cover it.. I think she saw my husband and me as kids and would give us sob stories everytime we saw her. Oh well.
    Thank guys

    quinn

  • rajwarrior19th August, 2004

    Quinn,

    Hopefully, this will teach you a lesson that was hard learned: Anybody will scam you regardless of age, race, or baby faces. Make a plan (ie due on the 1st, late on the 5th, evicted on the 11th) and stick with it regardless of your tenants perceived "goodness, kindness, or oldness." In other words, "its just business."

    Another thing that I hoped was learned for you and others is to never let the original owners stay in the house as renters. They couldn't, or wouldn't pay the mortgage when it was theirs, why did you think they would pay you now that it is not theirs?

    Actually, if these people wanted to, or knew how, they could make this ten times worse than it has been because, as the previous owners, they could run you thru the court system for months under various schemes stay in the home and possibly even reverse the sale.

    Please understand, I'm not trying to be hard on you. I just want everyone reading this to learn the lesson too. I hope everything goes as best as it can for you at this point.

    Roger

  • quinn19th August, 2004

    The private eviction company thing is a good idea. I'll call the bailliff tomorrow to see if they have any.

    As far as learning my lesson, you bet I have. Foreclosures are great but only if the previous owners are gone, it just isn't worth the headache. Actually, this could have happened with any renters who were renting the property. The real lesson I've learned is No More Renting. From here on out, I'm buying, do whatever work that needs to be done to get it marketable , and selling. No more www.tenants.Trying to collect money from people is just not for me, my temper is really too bad, and my patience is too short. Once these people are out, I'm selling, I already have a possible buyer. I have 3 more properties acquired this same way and I'm so edgy, I'm ready to put them all out if rent a late by one day.
    Thanks so much everyone for your replies they have really helped and made me feel better and more empowered in my decisions.

    quinn

  • phred_0219th August, 2004

    I once read a story about a person in a similar situation to yours. After getting the judgement, the tennants have no legal right to occupy the home. So the owner simply found the bigest, rudest, smelly biker that he could and payed him a small amount to live in the house for a short period. He would play loud music in the middle of the night. Take a big dump and not flush, yell obscene things at random. The previous tennants moved out almost immediately. My guess is we all know someone that would do this just for the fun of it.

  • mrmark20th August, 2004

    Consider a alternative next time when you go to rent your unit. This has been a blessing 4 meI 1st contact the adlerman, the district watch commander,
    (both police and fire) and offer the unit to
    the new single/newly married couple/
    and to there parents(seniors) at a discount rate. This is a great
    "eliminator" for problems in the neighbor
    www.hood.The dogs/crime/and other problems seem to "move" to a new location. My response for fire or police
    was under 4minutes, when needed assisstance! Permits, inspections,ect.
    when very well & smoothly. And when
    selling, never been told they didn't like
    have a fireman/policeman as a tennant.
    Not as profitable - just a lot easier on the
    problems. Good Luck ! Mark :-D

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