I have a 3-year tenant that needs to be evicted. He is your basic PITA tenant that always pays late, won't keep this lawn mowed, and keeps non-running vehicles in the driveway. Yesterday I received another abatement notice from the city concerning a non-running vehicles parked there.

Since he paid rent this month (late of course), technically I can't file for Non-Payment of Rent. I can issue a 30 day notice to vacate.

The question is: should I do this NOW and have another vacancy (which I do not need) during the winter months OR just wait until late February and boot him out then ? I would prefer him to pay his utilities during the winter months and not me.

February.

Your job is to evict quickly went it suites your needs.

Your needs now are just as you outlined, let them heat the home while you prepare to find a new teni.

In case you run out of available rentals and need this place, well you will know to evict.

Case by case. If he's paying me, honestly I could care less about the city. I would put whatever fine I got from the city on his rent bill. Also if he was paying me, I would let the vehicles and grass slide and only make them an issue when he pissed me off. The threat of a large bill by hiring a company to come and cut the grass usually gets them out there to do the job.

As long as I was getting the rent and the late fees, I'm not going to affect someone over an old car and some long grass. Once the city makes it my issue, then I make it his issue.

I know what you WANT to do (keep him), but the question is what is best for your investments long-term? Is he causing you stress? Will he actually pay? Will more city issues come up between now and Feb? Is he doing any damages?

There's more to this game than simply $. You can shut off utils and drain the pipes. Odds are you won't have any problems. If you do...maybe a couple hundred bucks worth of PEX and Sharkbite fittings?

I know what I'd do: follow my policy. 7 days unpaid rent = file eviction. Be sure all late fees are being paid as well.

Maybe Winter would be a great time to spruce up after he leaves and prepare for a new, better tenant in March.

I don't have very good tolerance for late rent, unmowed lawns, or damage, so this tenant wouldn't have made it three years with me.

However, you've limped along with him this long, late rent, city violations and all. You've put up with it for three years. Unless he has started some new intolerable violations, you could probably continue to limp along with him for another three months or so.

How cold does it get in AL? It gets really cold here, but I turn the heat down in vacancies and with no one going in and out, the heat bills aren't high enough to bring me to tears.

You've done it this long, what is a few more months? I got one in the same condition, but I'm waiting until after winter. As long as damages aren't occurring that is...

Last January, I actually filed eviction for Non-Payment of Rent. One hour prior to getting my Writ of Possession, he called and begged me to stop the eviction and give him another chance. He agreed to pay all past due rent, late fees, and court cost and to my surprise,...he did. Got like $2,000 in cash that day. This was back in January when I did not want another vacancy at the time.

It depends on your business model. I already spend way too much time on the business, so I actively look for low-maintenance tenants. I recently allowed two properties to sit empty for a couple of weeks rather than take the "she always pays but I have to chase her for it" tenants that applied. I recently non-renewed the lease of a five-year tenant because I was tired of chasing her for the rent.

It depends greatly on what your next tenant is likely to be.

I am influenced by other posts that you have made on this forum Roy.

My takeaway from your recent posts are that you have not been able to raise your screening standards and maintain occupancy. Your clientele are people living in generational poverty, with a poverty mindset.

Roy if your lease addresses late rent, lawn maintenance, junk vehicles (which it should), you can send a "Notice to Perform Covenant" letter listing the items in violation of the respective covenants of the lease. Also to include the number of days allowed to remedy each violation, and stating the penalties for non-compliance (that you will pursue legal system methods to recover your property and impose fines, etc.)

It surprisingly worked for me with some problem tenants where I did not expect it to.

For me, junk cars, excessive trash, lack of yard maintenance have historically been warning signs of more extensive (and expensive) damages inside the house itself. I too (as many here have given) had previously thought "They already damaged whatever they are going to damage, what's the harm of keeping them for another (month/6 months/year)?

Sisco,

Generational poverty? My tenants are for the most part not poverty stricken but have similar traits of many Class C tenants. They live from one paycheck to another, have no savings and do not manage money very well. Most of my tenants stay with me for about 3 years on the average before some minor financial crises causes them to become a thorn in my backside.

To ask a person with a poverty mindset to come out of pocket to buy a mower/repair a mower/ buy gas for a mower is a BIG ask. To ask a person with a poverty mindset to come out of pocket to have their car towed is an even BIGGER ask....and this ignores that they have to step away from their TV while doing these tasks.

I recommend the book A framework for understanding poverty by Ruby Payne.

Sisco,

Point is that this guy conducts himself like a person with a poverty mindset. You have recently written posts to the effect that you must accept (poverty mindset) clientele in order to fill your vacancies.

Roy-- you can't just terminate. Give him 30 days notice to CURE (send copy to county to show your doing something) -- or the 30 days notice to vacate will be issued. That gets you to the end of January. 30 days in Dec to fix-- if not 30 days notice that lease is terminated.

As far as getting 3 hrs from eviction. We just had a foreclosure same situation 3 days from sale on courthouse steps. We sat back and said this: we're in the money making business. So do we want to make money (yes) or have an empty and that headache?

During a set out-- about 2 years ago-- the guy showed up with the money he owed- we had half the house in the front yard. YES we took the money-- sheriff said you know you'll just be back in a few month? Of course we knew (and we were) but we're not in the empty house business. WHAT did the sheriff have vested--- NOTHING-- so I should take the sheriffs advice? NOT!

I had a low income tenant of 5 years paying an under market rent who had non-operational vehicles stored out in the open. So I gave my tenant several choices:

a) move out

b) park the non-working vehicles in the garage out of sight

c) store the cars else where

d) sell the vehicles

e) be evicted.

Two weeks later the tenant was dragging their feet, doing nothing to cure the violations I had given him in a notice.

I like what Sisco wrote, but I understand well your situation, Roy. If you can stomach it, I'd do what Ally noted to at least deal with the car issue for now. Then like S i d wrote, get ready to get rid of this tenant when the weather turns nicer.

It's interesting that the tenant actually really likes your place very much for him to have coughed up all that money last January. I wonder if he's depressed and just can't deal? Anyway, please share what happens. I'm curious how this will play out.

Salernitana,

Roy you have given second chance already. So maybe this is really 5th chance?

Roy,

For what it’s worth...my lease is clear: Res pays any fines due to their negligence AND I charge them $100 fee for is to “handle” the letter.

Oh, and we give them a firm, clear deadline to remedy the problem (24 hours to mow, 7 days to remove or license vehicles) then charge $50per hour for my guus to remove stuff or mow.