Last night, I decided to go through each clause to see exactly what remedies I have with this current tenant. One clause in particular stood out:
- APPLICATION OF FUNDS: Regardless of any notation on a check, Landlord may apply funds received from Tenant first to any non-rent obligations of Tenant, including but not limited to, late charges, returned check charges, repairs, brokerage fees, periodic utilities, pet charges, and then to rent.
Additionally, under the DEFAULT section of the lease, it says:
- B. If Tenant fails to timely pay all amounts under this lease or otherwise fails to comply with this lease, Tenant will be in default and:
- (1)Landlord may terminate Tenant's right to occupy the Property by providing Tenant with at least one day written notice to vacate;
(2)all unpaid rents which are payable during the remainder of the lease or any renewable period will be accelerated without notice or demand;
I called the sewer office late yesterday afternoon and canceled the sewer account, so the tenant should be receiving a nasty-gram from them soon. My wife wants to wait and see if this gets the tenant to smarten-up and pay, but I want to just file a Notice to Vacate now. What I think we'll end up doing is giving the tenant until the day the rent is due for December, and if she is even one minute late with rent AND all unpaid charges, I'll send her the Notice to Vacate and start the eviction process.
4 comments:
Where or how did you base your lease on? I am in the process of developing one that will fit our needs and concerns.
I'm sorry the 4-plex deal did not go through but I am sure that it was for the best. I hope you have peace with it.
Maria
I used a Realtor to get my first-ever tenant. In the process, she gave me several blank forms Realtors in our state use for tenants, including a lease application, pet agreement, property condition, and the lease itself. Since these are used by Realtors themselves, I know it has been looked over repeatedly by lawyers and is about as bulletproof as it can get. I've been using them ever since.
You can certainly do the same, although, it will cost you some money to have them get a tenant for you (of course). An alternative would be to engage with other investors at your local REI club and ask them for a copy of what they use.
Third, I'd use a prewritten lease you KNOW pertains to your state, exclusively. Those "canned" leases will usually work, but may not have everything your state may require (or worse, may have stuff in it that are NOT in your property code and are illegal).
Gosh, Steve, I wouldn't delay even one day with that notice to pay or quit. You're just giving her a free place to stay even longer. Sounds to me like she's not interested in keeping good credit. So, you may not be able to collect any money from her after the eviction without garnishing her wages. You should make sure you still know where she works prior to doing the eviction so you can tell the judge you want to garnish her wages, too.
I can see your problem. Good thing there are new tools today that enable you to be your own RE agent, and get this... at a very very low price. Why don't you try cellmyhouse.org this time. It will help you a lot!
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