I had to evict a tenant for not paying rent. He will probably pay all dues in court but avoid eviction. (His job is nearby and he does not have a car. Plus my rent is affordable so he may not leave).

1. Do I really have to keep him? I want him gone but I want to make sure I get money that he owes. That is, would I be able to evict him and still get to keep the rent he pays me at the court?

2. If I end up renting him, I want to make sure I increase his deposit. This is to build cushion in case he does not pay again. It is very hard to get a court date and he may just not pay and vanish getting a free month's rent. Can I ask more deposit as a condition of tenancy to continue?

This answer depends on you state rental laws ... here in NJ should the tenant show up at court on trial day - they have the opportunity right then and there to pay the rent that is due plus late fee ... should they no show then the landlord can go to another room and file paperwork & pay ( again) for possession.

Toget tenant out all depends on lease - if month-to-month present with 30 day ( or what ever the state dictates )letter for them to go - if a year lease hopefully it is near the end.

As for increase again depending on your state - in NJ we can only ask for equal to month and a half in security - $1000 rental fee = most security is $1500

I had a tenant that didn't want to pay me the rent. He threatened he and his family (wife and 2 kids) were going to move! I said, "You can't move you haven't give me your 30 day notice"!

So he wrote a 30 day notice of moving and gave me his last rent check. He had no deposit on file.

Then 10 days later he said, "I can't move, rents are now going for double"! I told him he was mistaken. That since he was under rent control and his unit was a 2 bedroom with a convertible den, it's really a 3 bedroom with 2 parking spots.

He said exactly. He has to stay.

I told him I'm sorry. When you gave me your 30 day notice, I rented out your unit to a neighbor next door that will move in on the 1st of the next month.

Too much going on here, too many questions to give you good answers.

1) How long was the initial lease? When did it start? How is your lease stated as to what happens at the end of the lease?

2) You said you had to evict but then ask if you have to keep him, this makes no sense.

3) What do your state laws say?

The sad reality in many states is that LL will be faced with the choice of having to eat the rent loss in order to obtain possession.

That is unless your tenant has some assets you can attach or wages you can garnish.

If you must allow tenant to stay if tenant pays in court, that's the law. Only suggestion would be to confirm with good landlord attorney. Maybe you can find loophole.

Alex,

Can you sue for the debt owed?

Me? If he cannot keep up with rent I don’t picture him having money to give you more deposit.

If they cannot keep up now realize he will not be keeping up later.

He needs to go. Find a home he CAN afford…or start stiffing another LL but not ME!

BRAD

Typically as a Landlord, you can't have your cake and eat it to. When you filed for eviction did you only list money owed as a reason for the eviction action?

If that is the only thing you asked for, it seems like you are asking the judge to give you even more now.

Why would a tenant pay you rent, if you are planning on booting them? Why would you want them if they are having trouble paying now? Think they can do more damage to your unit than simply the money owed? Now is the time for you to learn from what you did or didn't do so you can improve. process improvement means making more money in the future.

Hopefully he is collectable. Is he/she?

Yes, I know where he works. So once I get money judgement, all I have to do is fill out a form and hand over to Sheriff, is that it? Sounds simple.

Yes, he needs to go and I will get him out at an earliest opportunity. But I want to recover all money and damages through garnishments.

If judge asks me whether to evict him then I would say yes, but what if he offers to pay rent in the court? Would I be able to keep the check and still able to evict?

My attorney charges 20% of what he recovers to “chase” and garnish. You can do it yourself, but there are court filings required so lots of legwork. I’ve had good success with garnishment but there are risks…

If tenant files bankruptcy

If tenant changes jobs

Thanks Hoosier.

How far can I go to recover previous judgements? 1 year old? 2 year old judgements?