With my pending seperation/retirement I am looking for a way to get my rental property back. I signed a lease with my tenant in March and have no clue how to get my house back because I need it for my family. Has anyone had any experience with this? And if so, please share your thoughts on the subject.
Completely off topic, rental property
- Thread starter cmjames84
- Start date
I'll be honest with you, it's gonna be tough. You are going to have to break the lease and evict them if they don't want to leave.
It varies from state to state. I have a house in NY and I know it is really tough there. I decided earlier this year I wanted to sell my house. I also had renters in the place. I had to ask them to leave, which they did after some back and forth. Had they not moved on their own, I was going to have to find a reason to break the lease, and then was going to have to hire a lawyer to go through the process to evict them. That in itself, is costly and takes a good amount of time. Inevitably they also would have stopped paying rent as soon as I started the procedure. It was all for nothing, as I had to rent it again after it spent five months on the market.
The first step is going to be to go through the lease line by line. Look for any outs that your document left you to break the lease. Then it will just depend on your state as to how long you have to give them to get out.
A suggestion I may have would be to offer them a free month of rent and return of their whole deposit. You may also sweeten the pot and offer to pay for some of their move. i know it sounds extreme, but when you take into consideration how much you will spend on legal fees, lost time, and potential damage to your property, it becomes a small cost.
Best of luck,
Joe
I appreciate your response. I've already been through the lease and I can't find an out. I was actually going to offer them 2 months free of rent and their deposit, given no damage has been done to the house. I am having a consultation with an attorney that deals with evictions tomorrow and will ask him whats the best way to go about doing this. I guess I'm kinda asking the board because I know servicemembers, we will tell each other ways of doing things that might be a bit unethical. Not to say that I'm asking for any obscene tactics, just a little bit under the table. Hopefully you don't look at me like a dirtbag lol
You'd need to look at the lease like Joe said above. Is it a short term (7-month), or longer lease? It will also vary by state. Look at your state's bar association website for helpful info.
Joe makes some great point above. There are many "technicalities" which can allow you to break the lease, but you'll have to spend some time in court or hire someone. Some states make the eviction process simple, like Florida, where I can have a tenant out within 45 days. However, significant damage can be done within 45 days so I would recommend treading lightly and without a "strong" case of breach on their end, you might be better served moving close by (into a rental) and waiting for your tenants lease to expire.
Just my opinion.
That was not the impression you gave me at all. The fact is, owning a house and renting it is a tough situation and asking for help with ideas is not wrong at all.
It seems as though landlord/tennant laws in Georgia happen to be the only ones in favor of the consumer. This state has very little consumer protection it is baffling, of course when I actually need the laws to be in favor of the "business" i'm screwed! Anyway, i've gone line by line and can't find any thing that offers me an out... And the current lease doensn't run out until 3/31/15
Indeed, it's never a dull moment as a rental property owner in my opinion!
Hmm, at least you don't have to deal with "dead beat" tenants who are aware of the tenant laws and use them to their fullest opportunity to remain in your property rent free until official eviction by the U.S. Circuit Court legal system!
Case-in-point as follows:
We own a rental property formerly a newly built home in NC and since we moved out over five years ago, the property was placed under the services of a good rental property management company which was a very wise decision.
The first "dead beat" tenants stop paying the agreed upon monthly rent after two months. It took four months to officially evict them via the U.S. Circuit Court which yielded six months of rent-free living for them, but over $3,000.00 in property damage! We were not able to locate them so the $3,000.00+ in property damage was never recovered from them. We reinvested the minimum amount of funding in order to get the rental property back to a rentable condition. Note that the rental property was only less than 1.5 years old at this point in time!
The second "dead beat" tenants made the agreed upon monthy rent often late but late fees were accessed. Upon an inspection of our rental property by the request of the rental property management company's maintenance supervisor, the rental property was not being properly maintained. The tenants were allowing their children to draw on all of the walls within the house except the one room above the garage which was used for storage. The carpet throughout was torn, had holes and was extremely dirty except in the room above the garage. Upon the tenant’s request, my wife and I agreed to allow a breach in the tenant's lease contract with exceptions to get them out of the house. The tenants agreed, moved out then tried to "disappear" without paying the agreed upon property damages. Note that the rental property was less than three years old at this point in time!
In short, a nearly $8,000.00 lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Circuit Court for property damage, loss of use/rent, water + electricity expenses, court fees, etc. We won the lawsuit and was awarded the maximum $5,000.00 judgment for a small claims court claim. Now, the challenge was getting the money from the former tenants. Fortunately, the previous tenants were finally located by the local Sheriff's Department, but they currently still owe us less than $300.00 from the court settlement and won't pay. Therefore, back to U.S. Circuit Court we shall go!
With our rental property receiving brand new paint (e.g., water-based for easy washing) in the entire house, brand new carpeting in the entire house and other replacements due to tenant damage, it was only on the rental market for a couple of months.
Again, indeed, it's never a dull moment as a rental property owner in my opinion!
Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."
Best Wishes!
Do you have a damages clause in regards to a breach of the lease?
Have they ever been late on payments, etc?
You should have a clause in your lease that allows inspection, entry of the property with 24-72 hours notice. You can use this to get in and look and be nit picky if you choose to. It is a technique you can use, but risky in my opinion. Any ill will from you generally reverberates to them, and they have the keys to your property. Warrior does a great job describing how things can go bad, and how fast it can happen
If and when a person rents a home to others, they need to look at it like a long term investment. Reducing risk is how any successful business man operates. In rentals, the first step is to find a good property manager. They will screen your clients, look at their history, and manage the eviction process. That is why they get 10% of the monthly rent.
The next thing that is important about a rental property is that it is just that, a rental property. The intent should always be that you are going to rent it out for the predetermined amount of time. In this case, you signed a lease for two years. Right, wrong , or indifferent, this is a lease that is yielding a return on your investment. For 24 months you are having principle and interest paid and that will yield a return.
What I don't understand is why you signed a two year lease? Was the med board a surprise that came after you had signed a lease? One thing I always do with my property is never jump into a long term lease. A six or twelve month lease to start is just fine for me. It allows me to get to know the renter and evaluate risk. If they work, after six months, I offer long term leasing options.
Anyway, I appologize if my information does not help. I just think you have a good topic that can help a lot of members. The best suggestion I have seen is for you to move into a rental until the lease plays out. Going back to cost and risk, it is by far the best way to deal with this. Yes having to rent sucks, but it is not going to hurt you either. In the end you will have the expense of hiring a moving company, but your property will be better shape.
Did you use a property manger? Who did your lease? Did you do credit and background on the tenants?
If and when a person rents a home to others, they need to look at it like a long term investment. Reducing risk is how any successful business man operates. In rentals, the first step is to find a good property manager. They will screen your clients, look at their history, and manage the eviction process. That is why they get 10% of the monthly rent.
The next thing that is important about a rental property is that it is just that, a rental property. The intent should always be that you are going to rent it out for the predetermined amount of time. In this case, you signed a lease for two years. Right, wrong , or indifferent, this is a lease that is yielding a return on your investment. For 24 months you are having principle and interest paid and that will yield a return.
What I don't understand is why you signed a two year lease? Was the med board a surprise that came after you had signed a lease? One thing I always do with my property is never jump into a long term lease. A six or twelve month lease to start is just fine for me. It allows me to get to know the renter and evaluate risk. If they work, after six months, I offer long term leasing options.
Anyway, I appologize if my information does not help. I just think you have a good topic that can help a lot of members. The best suggestion I have seen is for you to move into a rental until the lease plays out. Going back to cost and risk, it is by far the best way to deal with this. Yes having to rent sucks, but it is not going to hurt you either. In the end you will have the expense of hiring a moving company, but your property will be better shape.
Did you use a property manger? Who did your lease? Did you do credit and background on the tenants?