Non Paying Renter -- Eviction Woes

[Widdle]

I just wanted to vent.....this may or may not be the place to vent, however, here goes!

I am so sick and tired of people gaming the system...when there are so many people out there that need help and can not get it.

Back in late 2006, 3 of us had a "flip" house that DH and I sunk $30,000.00 in and would of/could of sold it 2 months later if it had not have been for a stubborn brother involved in the process.

DH got sick early 2007 and we went through 2 years of pure hell and just could not deal with the house.

Left it up to brother to sell, however, mid 2007 he suffered a broken neck in a boating accident and he was out of commission for the rest of 2007 and most of 2008.

Anyway, fast forward to late 2008, I listed the house for rent and brother decided to rent the house out to a working single mom. She supposedly had a great stable job in the medical field.

I thought great, now we will be able to start recouping money.

Brother informs me that working single mom has a stable job and it seems that is so until we find out later that she never had a job, that her mother who wanted her out of her house was paying the rent for single mom.

Well, that worked okay for about 6 months, then the sh#t hit the fan. Mom lost her job and daughter/single mom began a journey of hitting every single charity in the tri-county area to pay her bills and her rent. Rent became very sporadic.

Brother has been in charge of collecting the rents as the house is in his name.

Well, single mom has not paid since September 2009, or should I say the final/last "charity check" and received in September and she was still in arrears of $300.00 at that time.

So brother has been trying to get single mom out of the house and has had to go through so much red tape just to get the eviction process started.

Finally after 3 months, brother has a court hearing for eviction this week, and the "poor" little single mother sent a letter to the court stating that if the brother will just wait a little longer, she can begin hitting all the charities again.

She stated that brother was calling so much and having people stop by the house that she started hiding in the closet so they wouldn't see that she was there. Yes, she put this in the letter to the court!

So, I wonder what the judge is going to say?!

Anyway, just venting......................I hate the whole rental process.

Rent is $600.00. That's a lot of charities.

Evidently, I didn't know it, but the landlord is also a charity.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I just wanted to vent.....this may or may not be the place to vent, however, here goes! What could be a better place? We are here for you.
I am so sick and tired of people gaming the system...when there are so many people out there that need help and can not get it. If you mean the welfare system, this has been going on a long time. Bk system has gotten better and those who game generally get theirs in the long run.
Back in late 2006, 3 of us had a "flip" house that DH and I sunk $30,000.00 in and would of/could of sold it 2 months later if it had not have been for a stubborn brother involved in the process. Never do business or make loans to family.
DH got sick early 2007 and we went through 2 years of pure hell and just could not deal with the house. Been there myself.

Left it up to brother to sell, however, mid 2007 he suffered a broken neck in a boating accident and he was out of commission for the rest of 2007 and most of 2008. Should have asked for a Durable Power of Attorney.
Anyway, fast forward to late 2008, I listed the house for rent and brother decided to rent the house out to a working single mom. She supposedly had a great stable job in the medical field. Where did he get this info and is there a lease? Kick her out for fraud.
I thought great, now we will be able to start recouping money.

Brother informs me that working single mom has a stable job and it seems that is so until we find out later that she never had a job, that her mother who wanted her out of her house was paying the rent for single mom. Mother paying for single Mom? How do you spell B.U.M.? Daughter is a nare-do-well.
Well, that worked okay for about 6 months, then the sh#t hit the fan. Mom lost her job and daughter/single mom began a journey of hitting every single charity in the tri-county area to pay her bills and her rent. Rent became very sporadic. She could not get free rent from 'Bammy's "stash"? Brother has been in charge of collecting the rents as the house is in his name. He needs to take responsibility for this as well as the mortgage.
Well, single mom has not paid since September 2009, or should I say the final/last "charity check" and received in September and she was still in arrears of $300.00 at that time.

So brother has been trying to get single mom out of the house and has had to go through so much red tape just to get the eviction process started. It is not that hard to do here in FL. I'm surprised. You simply sue for eviction, the Sheriff gives 30 days and a writ for possesion and her stuff will end up on the sidewalk.
Finally after 3 months, brother has a court hearing for eviction this week, and the "poor" little single mother sent a letter to the court stating that if the brother will just wait a little longer, she can begin hitting all the charities again. His retort should be, how long is forever. He has been waiting since Sept 09.
She stated that brother was calling so much and having people stop by the house that she started hiding in the closet so they wouldn't see that she was there. Yes, she put this in the letter to the court! So she lies. B.U.M.s do that at times.
So, I wonder what the judge is going to say?! The Judge SHOULD see it in a legal way. Blind Justice you know? Anyway, just venting......................I hate the whole rental process.

Rent is $600.00. That's a lot of charities. What is wrong with her attempting to get work. Yes I know the economy and all that, but seems like this one just does not work.
Evidently, I didn't know it, but the landlord is also a charity.

I was always told, "The customer is always right! (Except when they don't pay.) Kick her out. 'Hub

[Fresh]

Hub,

The eviction process in some areas can take a very long time. There are jurisdictions where renters have the upper hand for sure. It really is not as simple as putting someone out because what ends up happening is that the landlord is in worse shape with penalties and the like.

What OP described sounds like what happened to a friend of mine in MD. This woman has the best heart and would rather err on the side of getting taken than not help someone out. The woman who she rented to was not only mental, but from what my friend found out had done it MANY times before. And, there were no warning signs. This woman pre-paid the first 6 months of rent and it took my friend nearly a year to get her out after she hadn't paid for just about as long. And, this woman was not even looking for charitable contributions. Worst part was that she really messed up the property.

I do feel for you, but realize that there are always going to be people "who game the system" in a variety of ways. Try to protect yourself, but don't give up your kindness.

[frogger]

Landlording. To me, that is a 4 letter word. Done it for years, got the scars to prove it, and as of today, I'm officially finished with it!

You don't every have to worry about me being your competition.

[justbroke]

I won't do it again either. My brother and I actually bought an old hotel and thought of converting it to housing for the local colleges to sign multi-year leases as "dorms". My brother said never! So I bought a 4-unit and a SFH as rentals. Even those were nothing but trouble. Not so much the tenants (although I had a slow/late/non paying tenant once) but all the maintenance issues!

I hate to say it, but we "individual" landlords must start acting like the management companies. If rent is 5-days late... start the process!

For what it's worth, I'm no longer in the business and never intend to be... unless I win the lottery and can buy up half of Detroit at $18K per home. (giggle)

[JRScott]

His best argument would be the falsification of any renters agreement. That she obtained it through fraud in that she didn't have a job and lied on the application.

Since Hub's from Florida too he probably has good advice

[Widdle]

Fraud

Bringing the "fraud" issue up is a very good point....

Actually, I don't think the welfare system has anything to do with the charities.

What this girl has been doing is going to churches, salvation armies, casa and other places for "donations".

I found out this morning from my brother that the last charity check received in September had a stipulation that by depositing the check he was agreeing to the renter staying for an additional 30 days. Geez!!!

I am sure that the girl is probably getting welfare assistance as well, otherwise how else could she be able to "drive" to all of the charities.

Renters agreement was verbal.

[fireworks]

Renters agreement was verbal.

THAT was not too bright. It's going to be incredibly hard to prove ANYTHING with a verbal agreement - the entire case will be come he said/she said. If it's not in writing, it never happened.

[JRScott]

Yeah in dealing with business in these days always need it written, be hard to prove fraud .

[AngelinaCatHub]

THAT was not too bright. It's going to be incredibly hard to prove ANYTHING with a verbal agreement - the entire case will be come he said/she said. If it's not in writing, it never happened.

Unfortunately that is true. To start the process, the OP must write a demand letter for the amount of rent due to their "verbal" agreement on or about [DATE] and give (unfortunately) three more days to make whole. Then the eviction suit.

http://rhol.org/csu/evictions/Florida/FloridaSteps.htm

You can have the Sheriff deliver this demand letter for better effect. It will cost you $20 to do so and you will get a proof of service. Then perform the eviction routine. Here in FL it is not difficult. 'Hub

[AngelinaCatHub]

The link to the Statute in the article was broken. Here is the link to the law.

http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0083/titl0083.htm

It seems to be pretty straight forward. It would have behooved the OP to have a written agreement, however a verbal contract is still legal. Even though it would be a "He said/she said" the OP has the upper hand in that she is the landlord and the fact that the tenant cannot prove payment by check or receipt, would suffice in proving bad faith. 'Hub

[txhelp]

I wish I could give you some positive feedback, however I can sympathize! We were in a similar situation. We tried to sell our home (through realtor) for 2 1/2 years - no luck. Realtor found a renter for us and we only received 1 month of full rent ($600). We were looking at evicting, and yes it is a long process. Long story short, they lived in our home for 6 months and we received 1 1/2 months rent. They also lived there WITHOUT water for over 3 months (imagine that)! They left the house in deplorable condition-not livable. There is no way we can recoup from this. I am so disgusted! I really thought our realtor would research the renter thoroughly. Unfortunately, the lady that works at the city is the person that told us it was a mistake to rent to them. This house is in a very small town-and we all know how that works! I am not sure where you live, but I will definitely check with the city if I ever rent again. They definitely know the people who don't pay, and trash homes!

[AMISLANDER]

Check out city data forums under "renting." Should be a wealth of information to anyone.

[woeisme]

I wish I could give you some positive feedback, however I can sympathize! We were in a similar situation. We tried to sell our home (through realtor) for 2 1/2 years - no luck. Realtor found a renter for us and we only received 1 month of full rent ($600). We were looking at evicting, and yes it is a long process. Long story short, they lived in our home for 6 months and we received 1 1/2 months rent. They also lived there WITHOUT water for over 3 months (imagine that)! They left the house in deplorable condition-not livable. There is no way we can recoup from this. I am so disgusted! I really thought our realtor would research the renter thoroughly. Unfortunately, the lady that works at the city is the person that told us it was a mistake to rent to them. This house is in a very small town-and we all know how that works! I am not sure where you live, but I will definitely check with the city if I ever rent again. They definitely know the people who don't pay, and trash homes!

Wow, you don't happen to be the person who owned the house right next to mine in Ohio are you? Because sounds exactly like what happened to those poor people! They couldn't sell (problem was that they wanted about 20K more than house was worth because that is what they paid, and no one was going to buy at their price and they wouldn't lower it) and so eventually the scummy realtor they hired (known in our small town as being a real lazy realtor) rented it out to worthless people who trashed the house and were dealing drugs from the house (we called the cops on them several times) and eventually got evicted. Someone later finally buys house for 50K less than original selling price because it was so trashed. So I can sympathize not from being in the same position, but from being the next door neighbor who had to live next to scummy people and saw the house getting trashed, property values dropping... and not being able to do a darned thing. Oh yeah, the person who finally bought the house for next to nothing let it foreclose 6 months later, they also never paid on it! Finally got decent neighbors this past fall who are fixing the place up.