Curious if anybody with COVID dead-beats is going "old school". Removing front doors "for repair" ... changing the locks, shutting off water/electric/gas. To get their property back and move on with thier business or sale.

... maybe "old school" today has a softer touch: not replacing an appliance, not repairing AC, not cutting the lawn??

tryan,

Just for the record, the old school methods mentioned - MY judge will put the LL in jail for constructive eviction.

No door, no water, no heat, no lights will not stop a deadbeat.

MY old school method is to talk them out of the house.

MA LLs need to make some noise at their statehouse.

I'm always amazed the seat of our American liberties is now the seat of govt overreach.

BRAD

PS I wonder if you could file the eviction in another jurisdiction?

At least list their debt on their credit report thru MrLL's service.

BRAD

Besides being the owner and manager, I'm also the handyman and licensed contractor taking care of repairs.

One tenant gave me an emergency 911 call on a 100 degree weather day here in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Their air conditioner stopped working and they are dying.

They hadn't paid rent for months, using the pandemic as an excuse. Previous to the pandemic, they got the okay to work from home, making calls to clients. So being home was no excuse, they were taking home full pay. Also they had started looking to buy a home last year, with over $100,000 in savings.

So I told this tenant that I would contact my air conditioner specialist, but don't hold your breath because he is swamped with work and it will take around 7 to 10 days for the house call. My tenant complained they couldn't even last a day without air conditioning -- that I'm a contactor and fixed it the last time!

So I explained to my tenant that when they paid the rent, a portion goes to me as profit and that's how I pay myself for working at the property. But because the tenant isn't paying any rent, I'm getting nothing for all of the work I've been doing. So I'm not going to work for free. Instead I'd rather hire someone, pay their bill and deduct it from my taxes.

Life is lived in the gray areas. Even the courts no longer see black and white when it comes to the rule of law.

I would never do any of these things. I've just heard about them.

Apparently it is very easy to pull the electrical meter off the house. youtube is very educational.

Water valves at the street level are easy to turn off.

Some municipalities, I believe including MA, fine and punish the LL for trying to collect during the moratorium.

It’s not about them wimping out. Their hands are tied.

We are presently waiting out a 30 day notice (no reason given, per an attorney) before we can go get another warrant for this clown we are trying to remove. Didn't want to go the non-payment route in case Covid gives him a break, even though he is SSI for mental/alcoholic.

The first court date, he won because the Judge didn't like that I had given FB messaging as written notice. (He wasn't even on lease, just a BF) The GF did move out but didn't return keys. She still brings him beer.

I'd love to poison the well, but we have another tenant on it (he's a month behind too, so maybe I ought to have a "2 for 1"?

If I had gone to court with my husband & shown the Judge on my phone the conversation I'd had with them, it might have gone different. It was all my fault. I didn't really think they were going to even show up. She had left because of domestic violence was why I gave them notice. But there she was up in court supporting him all of the way!

Rule # 1: Never get involved in a domestic dispute, don't take sides. No good deed goes unpunished.