Topic: Resident living here rent free...... for a year!

I am just curious to know if anyone else has had any resident(s) living (a.k.a. squatting) rent-free because the courts are not (or will not) process evictions?
Resident is on social security so does not qualify for rental assistance (cannot prove loss of income due to COVID) in this state. Resident no longer has a valid lease because we did not renew it due to non-payment since July of 2020... but yet, they are still there! I even went as far as to ask the attorney if we can file criminal charges, since they are theft (utilities that would otherwise be covered by rent) and trespassing.
I know I cannot be alone in this, right?
Do not get me wrong, I have compassion for my residents that have fallen on hard times. I have helped many file for and receive rental assistance, but this one? They take the cake! Not a dime since July of 2020.

Have you thought about turning off the utilities after giving the renter notice that you were going to do so?

I recently sat in on a court hearing in which landlords were trying to evict 50+ renters who had not paid their rent for some time. The liberal judge did not approve any evictions even though the law allowed him to do so!

Yes. I thought wrnt the stimulus checks arrived there might be a token partial rent payment, but not even that.

You can't shut-off utilities because a resident isn't paying rent; they are still a resident and you still have to provide them with what's included with their rent

A lot depends on the courts and if they have opened up. We had filed on 2 tenants right before our Courts closed down in March of 2020. Both had been behind on their rent prior to the Courts closing. They were in 2 different counties in Indiana. One we managed to get into court in July, and she paid for awhile, we helped her get rental assistance, so we did get something. Then she elected not to pay again. When her lease was up, we gave 30 days notice. She moved out of the apartment. We still have an active court case in that county on her. We are deliberating on whether to follow up on her with the Court to get a judgement, or just report her to the credit reporting agencies, and be done with it.

The other case was not heard until September of last year. This was a fellow who owned his own home in our company's mobile home community, so he was not eligible for rental assistance. When we got him into court in September, the judge asked him if he had made any effort to get any type of assistance or make any payments (he had not paid a dime since January of 2020). He started to gripe about the community in general, and the judge cut him off, and said he had 45 days to move the mobile home out of the community, since he had NOT made any efforts to pay his lot rent. He abandoned the home, so we ended up owning a home that is in need of many repairs (Indiana has a specific ordinance on abandoned mobile homes). However, we did get a judgement on him, and so far he has paid about $300 towards the judgement. Whether we get the full judgement from him remains to be seen.

Other than those 2, most of our tenants have paid and kept up, even though they had some struggles, so we have been luckier than some landlords in that respect.

Unfortunately, turning off the utilities is not an option. Residents are responsible for their own electric and the rest of the utilities are not set up to be shut off per unit (water and gas are not divided up by apartment just sections of the buildings- older building). I can only imagine the electric company would not hesitate to shut off for non-payment though.
However, here's a "funny" update.... We have an outdoor, seasonal, gated pool which residents have to have a key for. The resident in question called me to get a key..... UMMMMMMM, no. I told them that the pool is only for PAYING residents.

I sell software to the PM field, and believe me you are not alone. I have seen tenants who have not paid in over 2 years since courts would postpone the case and then the pandemic struck. This will never be properly resolved since politicians and the courts have taken sides and I believe it is not based on the way the laws are written.

Wait a minute why would they process evictions if the relief bill paid unpaid rents for up to 13 months to those that need it the most. That means back rent was covered since this stupid pandemic started. Not to mention a few stimulus checks was giving out. Plus at one point 600 a week now 300 a week is being distributed. How are the utilities, water, and internet getting paid? Almost every kid had to go to school virtually. You need a good stable broadband connection in order to do that. How are they eating? Cell phone expense. So nobody is getting nothing and everything is free. Where did the money go? I get it there's some people that didn't ask for this but man this has got to be a joke.

Have one here for free since November. Sent him a non-renewal since his lease did expire already, and didn't mention the rent in it. He didn't leave so we are now filing for possession for the non-renewal. Fingers crossed all goes through!

Yes and the best part is, if they are up for renewal you can not, Not renew them because it is considered retaliatory.

Well all that extra money they needed those Amazon packages, because I can tell you those didn't stop even for the people not paying their rent.

Stacey wrote:

Well all that extra money they needed those Amazon packages, because I can tell you those didn't stop even for the people not paying their rent.

TRUTH!!!

WE have had several get behind, all but one got caught up. The one that didnt was already on the eviction list. That was right when COVID hit and chose not to pay anything. 10K, three times to court and finally got evicted...she fought until the end...

Amazingly Amazon reported some heavy gains throughout the pandemic. They charged everybody. Nothing was given away for free. If you wanted the cellphone case for your new iPhone 12 they sold it to you lol. I didn't see any losses.

Perhaps Sperlonga Data Systems could help. Sign up for their credit reporting service. Report delinquent rent which is then posted on the major credit reporting agencies.

I have found that doing a 30 day as opposed to the 7 day to be more of a success.. not paying rent is a violation of their lease .. 30 day now for faster possession- go after them for the monetary after .

Got you beat, I filed in February of 2020, received a Writ of Possession the day prior to the CDC Moratorium and she still sits here today with a balance of $31,260. Has purposely flooded the downstairs apartment and called my on-call maintenance starting at 12:26 a.m. 7 x's about her a/c. Has her unauthorized boyfriend living with her and they drive a Cadillac and BMW, both SUV's. It makes me sick!

ok, you win! :)

I wonder why they can't pay 100 dollars.

Yeah, that's a winner! LOL Not the kind of winner we want, but hey! I only hope you can hold out a few more weeks and get that one out ASAP. Good luck!

This may be why they not paying. I get that the pandemic took income from people but is it still that bad where you can't replace that income.


www.cnbc.com/2021/06/16/renters-will-be-...these-locations.html

We don't renew a lease if there is money owed and that was the rule even BEFORE the pandemic. As you can imagine, we have quite a few under non-renewal.

It's hard to help without knowing the state you reside, but do you have the option to evict in another court? Here in Texas (Harris County) we have a few JP's in each district, so when I didn't like one, I moved to the other...

Have any of our lawyers ever thought to file complaints with the BAR associations? I wonder if that's a way to get rid of some of these activist judges?

It seems as this is a common problem. I don't understand why they were not put out when their lease was up. Did you post the proper 60 notice of non-renewal? I had the same issue and I hooked the tenant up with Rapid Rehousing. The salvation Army handles this here in Broward County Florida, through an agency called Care Resource. This program is available in every state. I am sure that if you called them, they would assist the tenant you want out and then you can re-let the unit.

I think enforcing the non-renewal depends on the local landlord-tenant laws and the judge assigned to the case.

We are lucky to own in landlord-friendly (though questionable sometimes) states and since we have a major renovation project going on, we issue a non-renewal so that we can upgrade the units.

We have had luck with eviction for reasons other than rent, failure to keep renters insurance current is a violation of our lease, or non renewing and filing when they stay over notice date.

If they are on a month-to-month lease, can you serve them notice? That is how I have been able to "evict" residents. Follow the policy that your lease states (60-day notice) and serve. If they do not move out by that point, you can sue.