So for the first time in 8 years of being a landlord and having almost 40 different tenants currently (in other words, i have had a couple of hundred in the past 8 years) i am evicting a tenant. he is a crazy guy who is OCD and who is a non stop pain in the butt. he lives in ONE room of ONE side of a duplex and only pays $350 per month rent. the trouble is that he can't get along with anyone so i had to evict him because i can't get the other two rooms rented with him there. so, i put up my 30 days notice, then i took him to court. he "got" me on a technicality....namely, the one guy who is living there with him (who is miserable and told me the guy had to go or i would lose him) put the notice on the OUTSIDE of the front door rather than the inside. at any rate, the judge saw right through my tenant but still granted him 30 more days on the premises and told me to post it correctly. so here's my question. in Texas (maybe everywhere?) there is a 3 days "pay or quit" notice which requires that the tenant must pay his rent or abandon the property. after the hearing on thursday the tenant left town. I put the notice on his door that he owed me for March rent (i refused to accept any rent from him during March because i wasn't sure what the legal consequences would be) and he must pay within 3 days or "quit" the premises. he has been gone the entire time but today put $350 rent in my account for APRIL....meaning he still owes me for March. can i get him out of the house if he doesn't pay me rent before tomorrow is over? by the way, lest anyone think me a jerk.....i had new tenants move into the front unit 2 weeks ago and within days he had asked them the following questions about their 4 year-old girl: 1. how old is she? 2. which room does she sleep in? 3. does she sleep alone? 4. what sized clothes does she wear? the following few days they caught him looking in their windows SEVERAL times....this guy is a real time bomb and i am getting freaked out about what he may be capable of..... so does anyone know the answer to my question?
This may be a dumb question, but have you checked for his name on the registry of convicted sex offenders?
I think the answer to your question is yes, but I would need to research it to be certain (ie don't rely on my advice). It sounds like you are going to need to file an FED to be rid of this guy anyway so whatever the judge says goes. If I have time this afternoon, I will look at the property code. I think it is chapter 92.
You need to consult a lawyer since nearly all the stuff governing landlord remedies in the event of failure to pay rent require clauses in the lease, and there are all sorts of requirements about the specific language, conspicuousness, etc. Even standard leases sometimes miss little nuances required by statute, and any form lease might not have been updated to comport with recent decisions. Plus, as I understand it, you can change the lock, IF you have such a provision in the lease, but you have to give notice to the tenant of the change of the lock, where he can get the new key, and that he can get the new key regardless of whether he has paid the past due rent or not. Furthermore, if he tendered rent in March and you refused to accept it, he might have the defense that you waived the right to recover rent for March. Generally, the statutes are designed to make it hard to kick someone out for the simple reason that the legislature decided the onus should be on the person whose present injury is having to deal with an ******* rather than on the ******* whose injury would be to lose his residence. The State generally doesn't want people made homeless. You can evict tenants who fail to pay rent, but you have to go through all the right steps.
in CA, once the "3 day notice" expires, you still have to file an "unlawful detainer" (eviction) lawsuit, and demonstrate that he hasn't paid the rent, and that he was noticed properly. If you ar successful and win the lawsuit, he will be ordered to surrender the property by a certain date, and you also may receive a money judgement. If he doesn't surrender the property, the sheriff will come and remove him.
When is his lease up? You can just refuse to grant him a new lease. You just have to give him 30 days notice. I think the people in the other unit should consider calling the police, they need to protect their daughter....
Save yourself the hassle and cost of eviction. Offer him $1,000 in cash to move out in 48 hours. Bernard
You shouldnt have refused to take his rent. Been there, done that...didn't work out well. Follow the letter of the law, and don't look for loopholes. Otherwise he'll end up owning your duplex! And the 1000 dollars.....do it! That's about what it will cost to evict him, and it'll take MUCH less time.
