Yet another eviction suit
As you already know, I am having trouble with another set of tenants [read].
When they started receiving their checks from worker’s comp, it turns out the amount was less than they initially told me. Apparently, they’re only able to pay 60% of their rent each month. Obviously this is unacceptable, so I filed for eviction and the hearing will be on Friday February 2nd.
The key points in the situation are:
- They were behind on rent last spring. I filed for eviction, but ended up dropping the case before our court date because they started sending me checks every week. Within a few weeks they were caught up.
- I believe they have another source of income but are not telling me about it — they have three cell-phone lines and the two parents both smoke cigarettes.
- They need to start paying their rent or they will leave. Hopefully this eviction will get them back in shape
Ugh.
Important note: I did not properly screen the first few tenants that I personally found. Since then I’ve corrected my ways. In total I rented three units to tenants that were not properly screened, of which these are the only ones that are still around. I will elaborate more in a future post.
January 29th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Wow, that’s awful. I have been there. This is one of those things you have to go through on the path to becoming the uber-experienced investor you will one day be. Screening is still never 100% foolproof. But, it will help eliminate people like this right off the bat. I hope you go through with the eviction to make sure it’s on their records. They may try to do this to another landlord.
January 29th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
For some people, eviction is a way of life. I have looked through court records and found many people who have been evicted numerous times. To them it’s just a game to get free housing (or discounted housing).
I doubt that they will give up their cigarettes or cell phones in order to pay the rent. For some people, rent is at the bottom of their priorities.
Credit reports and eviction searches are the way to go. I agree with Trisha, nothing is 100%. But it’s a good starting point and allows you to eliminate bad apples right away. Sometimes a tenant may have decent credit at move-in, but things go downhill after a year or two. I’m faced with one of those right now.
Good luck and post back with your progress. IMO I would just get rid of those tenants. In my experience, once problems begin, they usually do not work themselves out.
January 31st, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Thank you guys very much for your comments, I will keep you up to date!
Shmandlord