I have a landlord tenent question that pertains to me being landlord.?
Situation is I have a condo that I rented out 2 1/2 yrs ago to a couple. After the 1st year they wanted to stay, so they went month to month. They began to get late with the rent consistently, like a couple of weeks behind. Well, this past month they didn't pay a whole month. I called and left a message I wanted to see inside the condo, which was witten in the contract, 24 hr notice, suddenly the rent was paid. Now, they have left the property without giving me 30 day notice. I went and looked in the windows and the place is empty. I went into the condo and all that was there was some clothes in a pile and some pot/pans. I called a reference they had and he said they had moved. This is abandonment of the property and in the lease. They owe rent and left. I changed the locks on the door. They have my number to call me. A lot of damage has been done. Am I legally scr**d now?
Answers:
No. If you can find them, you can sue them for the damages, the cost of changing the locks, and any unpaid rent. You are obligated to store any property that has been left behind until they instruct you to dispose of it, but if you incur any expenses in doing so, you can include that in your suit. Check with your local court to find out what the limit is on small claims--suits there are handled without lawyers, and are less expensive.
Suing is one thing, collecting is another. You have options there, too. You can attatch a lien to any property that they may have such as a car. An unpaid judgement doesn't go away, accumulates interest at a set rate, and affects their credit rating.
No, sue them for the damages and the rent owed to you.
report the unpaid rent to a credit agency.
Cut your losses and get a new tennant.
You said 24 hours and waited 24 hours. You didn't do anything wrong.
Hold onto their leftover stuff for 60 days and then do with it what you want. It's abandoned property.
How much damage?
Just holes. dirt? Broken tiles. nothing structural?
Of course take pics of the problems...
... but you will find it is not worth the hassel.
Fix what ever needs fixing.. ASAP so you can rent it out again. You can right off the expenses as a loss. You will probably end up NOT paying any income tax on the income this year...
... so you may see it this way: UNCLE SAM will pay for you expenses.
But if the losses are two or three times more than your income... you'll have to goto court. Locate them, sue them... and if they have an income... they'll have deductions taken off their pay checks...
good luck
Tracking them down and suing may be more trouble than it is worth. Hopefully you have a security deposit to help offset the damages.
This is a very common story and one to be expected when renting property to individuals. The surprising thing is that they paid some rent before they took off.
you have to determine if it is worth your time to track them down and sue or if you just need to let it go and move one.
Good Luck
Never say never in renting. You have possession under abandonment. You still may have to wait in your state to clean and rent. Call the state and see if they have any pamphlets on renting.In Wisconsin the do. As to the rent and damages get everything documented and photographed. Get estimates for repairs etc.With the Internet it is easy to find anyone.You can do what I do . I file in small claims court (In Wisconsin it has a limit of $5000.00 ) your state may be different You may have to file in civil court.Get a Judgment and when you find them Garnishee there wages. Hound them and they will pay it is the only way. It sounds like allot of work but it will pay
Since they are on a month to month basis, I don't think that there is anything you can do but collect past due rent and late charges. Maybe it is a good thing that they have moved on. Give someone else a chance. re: 24 hour notice, maybe they just forgot to pay. Could it be that you were too stressing to them, besides no one likes threats. We all have rights!
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