The Basics Of Evicting Obstreperous Tenants

Every landlord has found themselves at one point or another dealing with a bad tenant. There could be many reasons why this tenant is bad. Some of these reasons are; doesn’t pay rent, makes life hard for other tenants, and causes damages to the property. All these things make it hard for the landlord to keep the relationship going. Even though all states have different eviction laws, here are some tips that you will be able to use if you find yourself in that situation. It would be smart to get a hold of a lawyer in order to handle your legal issues and give you advice on your pending eviction. Since its more expensive to hire a lawyer on a case by case basis, you should build a working relationship with one so that you avoid the higher legal fees.

First, you can evict a tenant for non-payment of rent. To do this, you have to go through a process. Start with serving the tenant with a formal notice that the rent is overdue, and that he faces the possibility of eviction if payment is not forthcoming. If you don?t know how to create such a formal notice, there are preprinted forms that comply with all the legal niceties. IF you don?t receive payment within the legally prescribed period, such as within a week, you can begin eviction proceedings based on non-payment of rent. Be forewarned, however, that if you accept even a partial payment of the overdue rent during the eviction process, most jurisdictions will dismiss the action if payment of any amount, even a very small one, is accepted.

Violation Of Lease If a tenant is not following the terms of the lease hey signed, there are certain things you must do as a landlord. You must give them a written warning explaining what they violated, and also give them ample time to correct this problem. This is for your protection against a tenants claim that they didn’t know they were in violation of any terms, and that they also never got any sort of notice. This will have the judge on your side because its all documented.

Some tenants pose a health and safety issue to other tenants, or even to the property itself. In many jurisdictions, a tenant who endangers the health or safety of either the other tenants or the property can be evicted. To commence such an action, the landlord must first serve the tenant with notice setting forth a fixed period of time to remedy the situation or move out. If the tenant takes no action, the landlord may commence eviction proceedings. Even if the tenant does remedy the situation, the landlord may still serve him with a notice of eviction and termination of the tenancy on health or safety grounds.

IF a tenant files for bankruptcy, such an action stays any eviction proceeding commenced by a landlord until the bankruptcy issue is resolved, or the bankruptcy court lifts the stay and allows the eviction proceeding to go forth. IN said case, the landlord is usually required to move before the court asking that the stay be lifted.

Sometimes when a landlord commences an eviction action, the tenant may have counterclaims. For instance, the tenant may claim inadequate maintenance of the leasehold or some other violation of the lease agreement. IN said case, the tenant might ask the court to halt the eviction proceedings, or for a substantial decrease in the monthly rent. That?s why it?s always a good idea to keep any records of tenants? complaints, and of steps taken by the landlord to remedy them. Take note that if the landlord has in fact kept such records including those of actions taken to remedy the tenant?s complaints, he can thus negate a tenant?s claim that despite repeated attempts to complain about the problem, the landlord took no action.

In the event that an eviction action is headed for trial, the landlord should get all his documents related to the case in order, making sure nothing is missing. It is also wise to retain the services of an attorney unless the landlord is knowledgeable of his state?s rental laws and has had sufficient experience in eviction cases. IF you?re a landlord facing an eviction action, you can?t go wrong by following the steps listed above.

Layla Vanderbilt is the webmaster for a leading property management software review website which connects people with the leading property management tools.