Tenant eviction question (rental, credit card, tenants)

aardogfsu · 08-17-2015, 03:08 AM

thanks for the info...the place I'm renting is a condo so there's no garage...

Also, if I get to the point in the eviction where I'm storing his items, aren't I already at the lock out phase? If so, the tenant won't have the ability to retaliate (can't get in).

Been renting to him for 8 months and he's always late but we've been on good terms (I've never enforced a late fee as mentioned in the lease on all the times he's been tardy). The last 2 months I got a call from some furniture store and some tire place asking if he's still living there and letting me know that he owe's money...then 17 days late on my rent and he's dodging my calls and not answering texts. Would rather get the ball rolling today than be out 2 months rent at some point.

ScoopLV · 08-17-2015, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aardogfsu

thanks for the info...the place I'm renting is a condo so there's no garage...

Also, if I get to the point in the eviction where I'm storing his items, aren't I already at the lock out phase? If so, the tenant won't have the ability to retaliate (can't get in).

Been renting to him for 8 months and he's always late but we've been on good terms (I've never enforced a late fee as mentioned in the lease on all the times he's been tardy). The last 2 months I got a call from some furniture store and some tire place asking if he's still living there and letting me know that he owe's money...then 17 days late on my rent and he's dodging my calls and not answering texts. Would rather get the ball rolling today than be out 2 months rent at some point.

Yes, you're at the lock-out phase if you're storing his stuff. Too bad there's no garage. Now you're on the hook for clean-up, moving, and storage. Basically, you're doing all the moving work for the tenant. He very well may know this.

Many landlords try to use "ransom of stuff" as a bargaining chip. This invariably results in problems. If the tenants think you're going to go this route, that's often when the sabotage happens.

Do you know if you're in for a Superfund cleanup detail inside?

Based on the calls from creditors and the extreme tardiness, I'd say it's likely this tenant running up the bills prior to defaulting on everyone. (And not "fallen on hard times.") So now you can add months of collection calls to your list of annoyances. As soon as it goes to collections, they'll call you asking for Joe Defaulter. When you explain that Joe Defaulter was a deadbeat tenant and you don't have any contact information, they'll stop -- until they sell the account to another collection company, and it will start again.

aardogfsu · 08-17-2015, 09:17 AM

Thanks Scoop, just curious how the tenant can wreck the place if he's locked out...by then I'd have another tenant in there, no?

ScoopLV · 08-17-2015, 09:19 AM

If the tenant thinks the *** is up, they can dig in and work the system against you -- trashing the place the whole time. Las Vegas is a seriously landlord-friendly area. But it still takes time to evict. It's the time between the notice and the actual eviction that will cause ulcers.

*** is censored for some bizarre reason. It rhymes with "big."

ddrhazy · 08-17-2015, 09:26 AM

Make sure you have your 5 day pay rent or quit notice posted and mailed out today. If the process seems daunting you can get "landlord services" to do it for you for around $150.

aardogfsu · 08-19-2015, 07:56 AM

update: Went down on Monday at noon, they don't even deliver the 5 day until Wednesday (even though the website says next day)...so from the 17th, I'm looking at the 26th before I can start the court process...and then the lockout...their 10-12 day time frame from start to finish mentioned is not accurate.

Will know to start this thing a week earlier in the future.

ScoopLV · 08-19-2015, 09:47 AM

This is the part of the process that causes ulcers. Now do you understand?

ddrhazy · 08-19-2015, 09:55 AM

That's because you asked the constable to post the 5 day pay rent or quit notice. That's something you can do yourself.

ScoopLV · 08-19-2015, 09:59 AM

Doesn't matter. There's no legal way to make "lock-out" happen at the same time as notice.

Most deadbeats are strategically defaulting -- saving up for the move-in money they need to put the burn on the next landlord. But sometimes, they don't have a plan. (Addicts usually fall into this category.) Now they're facing the hard scenario where they either have to come up with rent, FAST (and still feed their addiction), or find themselves homeless with no options.

This is inexplicably where they somehow find the money to buy cement mix and spray paint.

This is why I always try to find a way to get them to leave voluntarily -- return of security deposit for instance. Anything to get them out and the locks changed.

lbb5757 · 08-19-2015, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Moderator cut: Orphaned here's my advice.

1) Forget about the "reasonable storage fee." In fact, forget about everything which might escalate the situation.

2) You should consider yourself fortunate if they leave the property in good enough shape to spruce up and rent to someone else. I have seen several of these situations go totally sideways taking care of things for my aunt.

My advice is, if you get to the lockout stage, hire laborers to move everything into the garage. Get a ton of banana boxes from the supermarket (they'll just give them to you if you ask). Have the laborers put everything in banana boxes and stack them in the garage. Move the furniture as complete as possible, into the garage and fill dressers with clothes. Make the "stuff" footprint as compact as possible. You want the move-out to take as little time as possible. Having crap strewn all over the place is contrary to that goal.

This allows you to clean up everything which isn't the garage, change the locks, and get the ball rolling for your next tenant. When you come to whatever agreement you can with the current tenant, you can open the garage door, keep everything else locked, and let them take their stuff back.

Don't threaten to hold their stuff ransom or you could find the property trashed to the point where insurance adjusters give you the "what were you thinking" talk.

This is one of the reasons I am so down on the average Las Vegan. I have seen first-hand, several times what the riff-raff is capable of. I've dealt with vandals, squatters, deadbeats, addicts, and run-of-the-mill filthy freakin' slobs. I gave my aunt the "here's how you avoid this in the future" talk. And she hasn't had problems since.

Make sure that the course of action of "leaving quietly without damage" is their most attractive option. Otherwise, they might decide to make your life as miserable as they can -- like pouring cement down all the drains.

I CANNOT STRESS THIS STRONGLY ENOUGH: If you take the attitude of "someone is going to pay," that someone will likely be you. Just get them out as painlessly as possible. This is like being sued -- there is no winning. There are only varying degrees of loss.

Definately heed Orphaned's advice!