Hey guys, I purchased a house that has a non-paying tenant. The seller already filed for eviction and the court apt is tomorrow. I agreed with the seller to keep the sale off record until the tenant is evicted.
My question is this… when a court apt is set and both tenant and owner show up, is the court date to kick the tenant out or listen to the tenant and give him time? I know texas is landlord friendly state, but I never had to go through eviction process.
I am in the same boat! I have these tenants who would “disappear” from time to time and pay rent late. they frequently wouldn’t return my phone calls and were never home. I filed a notice of abandonment and they all of a sudden reappear.They told me they were going to have the rent several times and after a few more weeks of “hide & Seek” they have thier electricty turned off . I gave them a 30 day notice and on the 30th day i go by to see if they are moving out and my windows are broken out!!! I look inside and they are inside packing! I call the police and they quickly grab a few items and they leave…90% of thier stuff is still there! TV’s Couches, computer, clothes, furniture, beds, etc. wtf?! I am in talks w/ my lawyer now to cover my A$$ and get the property back into shape to be rented
I am in Texas also. When you go to court 90% of time the tenant does not show up and you win. I have had the tenant show up and the judge will make you talk to them in the back room to work it out. If you do go into the back room only take from them the money they owe including all costs stated in the lease from them on the spot in cash. If they don’t agree to that don’t agree to anything. When you come back out the judge will ask you if you came to any agreement, say no. In the state of Texas in front of the judge the only question the judge wants from them is did you pay and can you prove it. If they can’t prove it they have to get out. You have to prove that they own the rent (a signed lease is ok listing how much the rent is). You have to prove how many months behind they are and how much they owe. You prove that by keeping normal records (a receipt book is sufficient). The tenant will go on about their mom getting sick and their car breaking down etc. The judge will bring them back to did they pay. If the answer is no the judge will issue a writ requiring them to get out.
The writ gives them about a week as I remember but you get the writ that day.
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What state are you in?
Thanks bluemoon, that does help. I am heading to the court in 45 mins. The tenant indicated that he will show up. He intends to move, but he is stalling till he gets his IRS tax return, which he doesn’t know when he will get.
Now, I have a deed but I have not recorded it. The seller filed the eviction and is pursueing it. As far as the judge knows, the seller still own the house. I will go as a potential buyer with a contract to purchase one the tenant is evicted.
If you don’t own the property then why do you care if they pay the rent or not?
I do own it, just not recorded the deed since the seller has already filed the eviction and I did not want to start new eviction process. In any case, we went to court and judge simply said judgement for the 2 months behind and 5 days to move out.
Was it as easy as I said it would be?
It was funny actually. The first few that got called up to state their case made such dramatic cases from cancer treatment, to working 2 jobs…etc. but the judge would listen and once they are done he says “Judgement for $XXX 5 days to move out”.
Later, the tenants who saw what was going on would just come up and say “I lost my job” or “I can’t make the payments” rather than try to fight it and make fools of themselves.
On the property I bought, it took 30 seconds and we got the judgement for $1600 and tenant was given 5 days to move out. I am not sure what happen now though… the judge just made the call and it was over… we left… not sure who follows through and what happen if he doesn’t, other than call the cops.
It was such an experience, I am glad I went.
The tenant should move out. If they don’t call the percent constables where the court was and set up a time when they can go over with you to put their stuff out. You need to hire 2 strong guys to haul the stuff out, and have a locksmith scheduled to meet you there to change the locks. You can change the locks yourself but worse case you may have a lot of confusion going on and you need to have your wits about you. Put their stuff on the street, don’t take it. The constable will help you out on this but he won’t move any of their stuff.
As sad as this may sound, I am enjoying this experience…
CA
Hilarious 
Tenant moved out on Tuesday, house was sold on Wednesday… gotta love it.
Great this is how it usually works here in the great state of Texas.
It is so easy even a caveman can do it.