So Ms. Excuses was supposed to be out yesterday (5/31/23) but so far since she texted me on 5/23 to tell me that she considered receiving legal notice by me per NYS law "harassment" and that she'd be out 6/10, I've heard nothing. I'm letting my attorney know that:

1. no keys were left in the designated place (dropbox 3 streets down) as was requested/no forwarding address was stated.

2. no communication has been received from her (text/phone/voicemail)

DH drove by there yesterday as he is working at said location 3 streets down and said all the blinds were down and there was a mop left out on the front landing. I can only assume she is holding over at this point.

GKARL,

I'm a little confused. It sounds like, at the last communication with her a week ago, she said that she'd be out on 6/10. So, why would you expect to find any keys left anywhere now?

I mean, you told her she had to be out by 5/31. She texted you and said that she wasn't leaving until 6/10. Again, that was a week ago. How did you respond to the text about 6/10? Just nothing?

I don't see why you would expect anything different than what she told you at this point. If you didn't follow up to the 6/10 text saying that that was unacceptable?

I was just reading our state laws a few minutes ago.

It said something about a tenant holding over after giving a definite date they will be out then landlord can charge double the rent.

IOW I told her that I would be contacting my attorney (which I did) on that very day 5/23. I'm thinking it might have scared her enough to be out. Since no keys/communication came back, the meter is running at 2X per diem.

If you told her "that if she was not out by 5/31 then she would be a holdover and you would start eviction proceedings (on 5/23)", I only have one question. Have you started eviction proceedings or not.

The worst damage you can do to yourself as a LL is to make a threat and then not back it up.

If you haven't already started evictions, what makes you think your tenant will move on 6/10?

This early entry stuff isn't worth the hassle. Just have the attorney continue the eviction. You'll get a date that is after the 10th anyhow -- and you can see where you are at on the 10th.

Does your state allow a money judgement? If so, you'll want to continue the case anyhow to get that -- even if they DO leave on the 10th.

No biggie. Not worth getting too riled up over a 9 day wait here... Especially if they'll eventually be collectible.

I never tell tenants I'm going to start the eviction process. I want the process server to be able to find them, and I also don't like painting myself into a corner where if I don't follow through precisely as I say that the tenant believes I'm wishy-washy.

Once I've decided to evict, I go into silent-mode (no calls, no texts, no emails) until after they get their court papers with the hearing date.

Ed: I think they told them, on 5/23, that they would start eviction on 6/1 if they hadn't left. And that is what they did. So, that part, at least, seems correct/proper.

Ed, again, I told her I will start the eviction process on 5/23... which i did. Not sure how more clearly I can put it or how it was interpreted otherwise.

She kept mentioning over and over mid April that "Since I'm not being evicted I can stay." Um no. I made it clear with a forty five day notice certified that We will not be renewing end of May. She basically challenged me to evict her and I did starting 5/23.

Mapleaf18: Ed (and possibly others) were likely confused because of how you wrote this:

"I told her that if she was not out by 5/31 then she would be a holdover and I will start eviction proceedings (on 5/23)"

The way that says "I will start eviction proceedings (on 5/23)" could be taken wrong if people didn't see that you meant that you SAID that on 5/23, not that you were going to DO it on 5/23.

That is how it could be "interpreted otherwise." Just to explain why some people didn't understand you at first.

What am I hearing repeatedly?

That you have been blessed with a gift - the tools in the form of rental properties to create a steady stream of income.

That their are evil tenants are cutting into this potential path of income. That the pool of tenants is not so good. So I have to wonder, what happened. The building was making money for decades and suddenly the tenants turned bad?

I think you have a few paths you can take:

1) Sell the building since the tenant pool is suddenly bad or not listening. or

2) Continue complaining that the tenants are bad do nothing and be unhappy or

3) Train yourself so you can train the tenants so that they know what they are suppose to do.

Will you occasionally get one or even two that will go rogue on you? Absolutely. But if you are not happy with your results, either you or your tenants will have to change so that you get the results you want. I recommend you find the tools that allow the tenants to learn to do what you want them to do.

I find normally when one of MY tenants is failing, it is normally because of me not being clear enough with them about what is or what might go on - either with a positive reward or unfortunately an occasional negative path.

"I made it clear with a forty five day notice certified that We will not be renewing end of May."

I do not know if NYS prohibits this, but what I do when a lease is not being renewed (doesn't matter if I decide or tenant decide) , on the notice I add a line that says the holdover rent will be $8,888 a month. That means if they stay a single extra day, they will owe me $8,888. That is how you get their attention.

David,

Wow!

Second day at they are over the 10k threshold we have for small claims.