Texas Renters

Rehabbing, Fix and Flip, Rental Properties
1

My father in law has rented his home to friends. He did not have them sign a contract, everything was verbal. The friends haven’t been paying rent for the house for several months now. The bad thing is he also pays for electricity. So basically, my father in law has been paying their electric bill the last few months and getting no rent money for his renters.
I told him to send them a quit or pay notice first and then go from there. Without a written lease agreement though, what options does my father in law have? Does it really change anything for him?

Many thanks in advance.

2

In Ohio, a tenant without a lease is assumed to be on a month-to-month lease. You evict them just like any other tenant. Maybe Dee or someone else from Texas can chime in.

Your father-in-law should have learned 5 lessons:

  1. Never do business with family or friends
  2. Never let a tenant be late on rent - evict them immediately when they become late
  3. Always have a lease, even if it is month to month
  4. Don’t pay utilities on rental properties
  5. In business, no good deed goes unpunished

Good Luck,

Mike

3

Thanks, yea he has taken a few lumps and lessons learned. ::slight_smile: