Evicting a resident - landlords cross their fingers that they will never actually have to deal with this. It’s right up there with hoping a natural disaster doesn’t destroy their property. Unfortunately, as the landlord, you may face a time that you will need to evict your resident.
Reasons for Evictions-
Resident doesn’t pay their rent
Resident causes significant damage to property
Resident breaks rental agreement as outlined by lease
Resident engaged in illegal activity
Your property is your investment and business. All of the items listed are justifiable reasons to evict a resident because they jeopardize your ability to keep your property in usable condition and your business profitable.If you have a resident that needs to be removed from your property, make sure the reason fits into one of these categories.
The first step is to try to talk with them yourself. Review with your resident why they haven’t been paying their rent. Discuss property damage and how they will pay for it. Remind them of what the lease states and that you are holding them to their agreement. Tell them illegal activity will not be tolerated on the premises. If you worry that they may be unreasonable as you try to talk with them, take them out to coffee or some other comfortable public space where they would feel less attacked and less likely to make a scene.
As you talk with them, be understanding to their situation (especially in the case of unpaid rent) but firm. Let them know you are willing to work with them but also that you can only be so lenient. Remind them that if it gets to the point of an eviction, this will ruin their credit score and financial abilities for many years in the future. It is in their best interest to cooperate with you now.
Take Note-
When trying to first resolve the situation yourself, it is important to remember not to do anything illegal yourself. You may be the owner, but your resident does have rights. Do not harass them, change their locks, remove their belongings from your property, turn off their utilities, or anything similar. Later, if an eviction is necessary, you do not want the court to have any reason to take the side of the resident instead of you.
For residents who are behind on rent, do not accept partial payments since this can mess up your ability to request an eviction
Know your state laws in regards to evictions. The whole process needs to be done lawfully or you will not win your case later. Here is a website that has a list of each state’s eviction process.
