I evicted a tenant last Tuesday. She was not happy when the sheriff showed up, but, I gave her plenty of chances to pay. She was a section 8 tenant and her share of the rent was $60/month. She was there for only 2 months and did not pay any of her share of the rent. She was evicted over $120. I did get a $900 security deposit which will cover my expenses. She will be kicked out of the section 8 program because of this eviction.

She left a lot of junk - old dirty clothes, dirty mattresses, rotten food, etc. When she left, she said she did not want anything else from the house and that I could throw away everything that was left.

I was at the house yesterday around noon time taking trash out and fixing the door locks. I was in the house for about an hour.

I came back to the house 2 hours later and someone had kicked the back door in and walked through the house. There wasn't anything worth stealing. I will have to replace the door and paint over the graffiti that they left. None of he neighbors saw anything!

I filed a police report. The police said this is typically the ex tenant coming back in to cause problems. They suggested I install a security system.

This is a well maintained house in a class D neighborhood. The house should be ready to rent next week.

What type of security system should I get? Game cameras? A fancy internet security system?

Sorry for the crap you are going through. Your ex-tenant appears to be total garbage and not fit for a trailer rental. More like under the bridge residency is more appropriate.

In the case such as yours where the property may not have immediate internet access at this time, you will need cameras setup to record on SD memory cards. It will NOT stop anyone not authorized to be in the house and unless you hide the camera, anyone coming in may take or break the camera. Also, one camera may not be good enough for coverage. An good alarm wired to the doors and/or windows may be more effective in your case.

John

MMIT,

I would also make a point of documenting the items with photos that were left behind. In my state there is a procedure to follow for abandoned property left behind, I don't know about your state.

My point is that I am aware of an eviction where the tenant made fraudulent claims about items of value left behind.

Protect yourself with photos and find out if there are any specific requirements you need to follow for your state.

In my case, I always take photos and create an inventory with my own reasonable estimated values. Of course, typically all of the items will have little or no value. I then send the required notice of the items and estimated value to the last known address which will typically be the apt from which they were evicted. I wait the required number of days, then in my state, if the total of the abandoned property is less than $700, I am able do do whatever I want with it such as toss it in the trash. The total value has always been under the level which allows it to be trashed.

It doesn't take that much time for you to do. It can save a lot of hassle, but as I said I don't know what the legal procedure is in your state.

MMIT,

For this I'd use a Simply Safe alarm, and perhaps a RING camera if you have internet. Otherwise a couple of hidden game cams to ID any interlopers would be goid I'd think.

Also put up security lights - could use solar and remove on rental.

I probably would have had a talk with the tenant and formally trespass her from the property if possible. My talk would be something like this. "If anyone harms this property again I will hold YOU responsible. And if I ever see you here again your bleached bones will be found in 20 years in the desert..." Of course I live in northern AZ where the west is still wild. YMMV :D