I have a home in Florida that has been vacant for several years since a parent died. A week or two ago an acquaintance asked about moving in and renting the home. He faxed a rental agreement that looked good and said that he would get it notarized and send me the original for my signature a few days later. He then mailed the notarized rental agreement a couple days late including the same words that when he moved in he “will have given you a total of $500.00”. I have not signed the agreement yet because he has not paid any money. His brother (who I’ve known for 30 plus years and trust) lives next door and has been maintaining the yard for me. During this process, the acquaintance moved into the house and still has not paid anything and wants to do home repairs instead of paying the rent. The house does need some repairs and I had been considering either selling or renting it in 2006. I have not received any list of needed repairs.
I am wondering how to proceed with this. I am not sure whether this person will ever be able to pay any money. Since I’m long distance I will also not be able to closely supervise whether repairs are indeed made appropriately although I do have some trusted neighbors there.
Should I immediately evict? Should I let him do repairs and try to work with him? Should I sign the contract with the section crossed out or add words of my own? How does one evict long distance?
This is why you never rent to family or friends. Some try to take advantage of the relationship.
Firstly, “he who writes the contract has the power” (or something close to that) is a quote I remember seeing on this board. You should be the one who writes the contract with all the proper wording to protect you, including strict late payment penalties and eviction procedures.
Secondly, I agree with Rich - in the eyes of the law, he’s trespassing on your property. You don’t need to evict him - he’s not a tenant if you haven’t signed the contract.
Just because he’s an aquaintance doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to pay you on time every month. You have to screen him as potential renter just like everyone else. This isn’t personal, it’s just business.
My apologies if I sound cynical. I’m not a landlord and I don’t play one on t.v., but I’ve heard too many horror stories on this board and other boards where new investors/landlords get burned because they are soft. Once you give in or show indecision, many renters will think you’re a pushover.
Decide what you want to do with the property and then act accordingly. Ask your trusted friend to tell him to move out or you’ll call the police. Or, construct your own rental contract, on your terms, with the help of a mentor or real estate attorney and fax it back to him.
Sounds like you’re going to need to check up on the state laws there.
According to one housing judge I heard from in the state of Massachusetts, tresspassing is when someone is there without any permission from anyone. This means that if you rent to a person and their cousin, uncle, friend or whatever moves in and that person that originally rented from you leaves, those people there are not tresspassers in the eyes of Massachusetts. They had permission to be there from someone else who had permission to be in the property.
Your case has some interesting questions such as how did this guy get into the aparment if you didn’t give him the keys? Does he somehow now have permission? Most tenants aren’t that familar with the law, but the horror stories mentioned earlier are from those professional tentants. If he’s not, you can sometimes bluff him to move out. These days renters can have all sorts of stories as those with the financial means have bought houses so you have to be much more careful screening tenants. You should do the full credit check, eviction report and criminal background check after a signed application for full protection. Credit check and eviction report might be enough if they have a good story and aren’t in a big hurry to move.
Anyway depending on those answers, he might have permission. If it were in this state, you’d have to proceed with the normal evication process. Of course this is one of the most tenant friendly states in the nation so maybe the laws in your state will make it easier.