Should I kick this tenant out?

Rehabbing, Fix and Flip, Rental Properties
1

I have a tenant who just moved in on a monthly lease.

She has a guest that stays over all the time. He is not loud and doesn’t bother anyone, but he is not on the lease.

I have no idea of his criminal background, but that isn’t even the point. The point is that he’s not on the lease.

If this were a hotel, I would kick them out today, but the reason that I’m debating whether or not to do so is because it will take 3 weeks to get them out through the court, and that’s if they don’t contest it. If they contest, it could take longer.

During this time, they would most likely not be paying rent, which would cause profits to decline.

And just because I can go after them for unpaid rent and court costs doesn’t mean they will actually pay it.

But I can’t have people violating the lease… that just makes the whole park look bad.

Here’s another one…

I have a tenant who is a single mother… she lost her job and it took her 3 weeks to find another one…

I gave her a notice the day that she was late…

She gave me some paper about getting charity money… but has not come to me with any kind of rent since I gave her that notice, even after promising me that she would…

I think I should kick her out… I don’t really have time to deal with people that don’t pay rent on a personal basis…

If I could hire a robot to run the place, I would…

2

Both of these situations represent routine exposure to loss.

If the ‘live-in boyfriend’ isn’t a nuisance, then don’t escalate the situation unnecessarily.

Simply remind the tenant of the terms of the lease, and either invite the ‘boyfriend’ to sign on the lease, or give them a notice to vacate. Simple. Likely, the boyfriend will be happy to sign the lease.

It doesn’t make a lot of difference ‘why’ the rent is not being paid, except that it’s not being paid at all.

Notwithstanding, this is a people business, and you’ve got to weigh your options against what you ‘should’ do, against what you ‘can’ do.

You already knew when you rented to this lady, that she didn’t have a strong employment background. You took the risk. Well, now she’s lost a month’s worth of income, and she doesn’t have options other than to scratch and claw for some leeway.

If this were me, I would just chalk it up to my 5% vacancy and credit loss, and if I was sure she was actually ‘trying’ to get things in order, and just needed some rope, I would oblige.

That said, it’s an unrealistic expectation that she will ever be able to pay the back rent. Paying double rent, just to get current, is also a pipe-dream for her.

You could raise the rent $20/mo (or whatever); forgive the old balance; and if she’s able to pay for a year straight, recover at least $240. My late fees, however, are non-negotiable, and yours shouldn’t be either.

3

And if her boyfriend has a criminal record of any kind, I should trespass him?

I don’t even allow people with misdemeanors to live here.

4

Well, if you’ve got enough traffic to sift that tightly, then go for it.

Otherwise, I’ve already told you what you can do.

5

Are you saying I should relax my rules?

When I took the place over, half the tenants cooked crack in their trailers, so I undertook the obligation of cleaning the park up.

I was considering relaxing the rules. Perhaps the “no pet” policy and allowing one cat.

I have never had a problem finding tenants on Craigslist. Finding GOOD tenants is another story.

I just had to evict someone for turning the place into a squat house one week after renting. And of course, didn’t pay rent the whole time they were being evicted.

There is no way to go after back rent if the reason you evict is “noncompliance for matters other than paying rent” except for taking it to civil court, which involves hiring an attorney and incurring those expenses.

Obviously, people that live in a trailer park aren’t going to pay their judgements anyway. It would be rare that they do and I wouldn’t count on it for accounting purposes.

It is these type of situations that, given the financial ability, would cause me to lean towards hotels. They more suit my personality of “PAY THE RENT OR GET OUT!”

I don’t have time for… “My mom just broke her leg and I had a slow week at work, bla bla bla,” and they’re probably just lying anyway.

6

Where did you get the impression that I said you should relax your rules?

Just give the tenant a notice to either qualify the boyfriend, or move out. Simple.

Then act on whatever you find on the boyfriend, if he tries to qualify.

Whether, or not, she withholds rent after you post a notice to vacate, and a cancellation of lease, is something you’ll just have to deal with, and I can’t predict.

7

I texted her and she said he was a temporary visitor and will be gone this weekend. Problem solved and I think my text alone will deter her from any future violations of the lease.

But “just have to deal with,” would be a whole different story if I actually owned the park and relied on it for my grocery bills, rather than being the property manager and getting paid the same either way.

I don’t want to commit myself to a lifetime of avoiding apartment complexes just because I don’t know how to deal with these situations. (This is in some fantasy world where I make enough wholesaling to ever be able to afford apartment complexes)…

Hotel is “pay or get out,” but so are other types of transient rentals. I’ve talked to trailer park owners in my area that choose to do transient rentals, but of course this literally DOUBLES the tax. It goes from 6% sales tax to an additional 6% transient tax. (Total 12%).

These are Florida rules, I don’t know the law for every single state, but I’ll assume (stupid, I know), that it’s similar.