Any advice on freeloading tenant

[farmpond1]

This isn't for me, actually. It's for my girlfriend. But as I care about her, it's bothering the %$@ out of me!

My girlfriend has been renting a condo to this guy. He was at least a month behind in paying his rent and now he insists on staying there beyond the terms of the lease. Next week it will be a month beyond the lease. (It has been made clear to him that she wants him out). In addition, he has evidently changed the locks on the door without permission as her key no longer works (something he also did earlier-again, without permission).

My question is, do you all know of anything legal that she can do to compell him to leave voluntarily? (Believe me, I've already fantasized about at least a dozen illegal things-it's wonderful until I step back into reality). She's given up any hope of recovering any past due rent.

This all gets on my very last nerve. If someone steals your bike, you can have him arrested. If they shoplift in your store, same thing. But if they refused to pay rent and refuse to leave-even after the lease is up, there's little one can do without a lengthy and costly eviction process. Don't even get me started on my opinion of lawyers!

[done]

She needs to start eviction proceedings ASAP. They take a while so the sooner the better. My in-laws rent out a number of properties in WNY. The court does not make it easy to evict anyone and they have taken a beating on their propertes so many times, it is not funny.

It is sickening. They have had to at times physically restrain my father in law from strangling the life out of a tenant.

Good luck man, do your best to try and ease her frustration as much as you can, just one of the downsides to renting.

[farmpond1]

I was thinking of inviting the University of Illinois rugby or hockey team to have an extended party there but I doubt there'd be anything left standing afterwards. ;D  It might be worth it, though.

[farmpond1]

I'm a little cornfuzed about the whole 30 day notice thing.  Is the person supposed to be out within 30 days of the notice of eviction?  Or do you have to wait 30 days from the end of the lease, for example, before you can serve the notice.  This question may seem awfully dumb but I've never dealt with these sorts of matters before (Thank God!)

[flechero]

Laws vary by state.  However, when I worked at an apartment complex, about 75% of the time we filed for eviction (which was fairly cheap at the time) the people moved out in the middle of the night, within a couple days.

The worst thing you can do is wait... because the judge has final say in how fast they leave.  If he or she puts a good sob story on, the judge can give them more time.  (I've seen it as long as 90 days after the 45 days to get a court date!)  And the one guarantee is that they will not pay any rent while this is going on.

[farmpond1]

This guy thinks he's really slick (and, in some ways, I'm force to admit, he is).  He bullied a co-renter into leaving and, as I mentioned already, changed the locks without permission.  He's not the kind of person you would trust with anything.  He has a rap sheet (we found out) with at least 3 convictions (retail theft, burglary, forgery).  My girlfriends mistake was not doing a thorough enough background check.

[fishfordollars]

If possible you can turn off all utilities, water, etc.

Or, if it is well covered just light it and see how fast he leaves.

[atx_newbie]

If he is on a lease then you are lucky, because you have the legal power of the lease on your side.  If the lease expires and neither party gives a notice to vacate, then the lease becomes a month-to-month lease, which is still legally binding.  Leases never actually expire without notice being given.

So, if that is what's going on here, then he is still on a lease, and since he has not paid rent for this month, then he is breaking the lease.  Send him an eviction notice.  You can find templates for them online, just fill in all the necessary information.  Deliver that to the apartment (slip it under the door if he isn't home).  Five business days later, you will be able to take a copy of this notice to the sheriff's department, who will send a sheriff by to serve a more official notice.  This usually gets them out.

If that doesn't work, then 10 days after the sheriff's notice was served, you file for a court date with the county clerk.  Then they set a court date, then you can finally get him out.

A tenant not paying rent can usually get almost 2 months of free rent before all the legal preceedings are taken care of.  This process sucks for landlords.

(Note:  These steps are based on Texas/Louisiana laws where I have spent about 7 years doing this.  I'm not sure what the laws are in Illinois.  Call the county clerk's office and they should explain it to you.)

[.ghoti.]

I had a friend, about 20 years ago, who was always in this situation.

His solution; have the plumber go in and remove the toilet.

Worked almost every time.

[farmpond1]

I had a friend, about 20 years ago, who was always in this situation.

His solution; have the plumber go in and remove the toilet.

Worked almost every time.

Hmmm...This might just work-unless, of course, he decides to be a real arse and deficate/urinate on the floor.  But then again, he'll have to live in his own filth then.  I'll throw this one out to for more thoughts/discussion.

[done]

Never underestimate people man. My in laws never removed the toilets and have had clients still use the bath tub and sinks for the toilet. The did this for 20+ days, so figure out the details from that.

[farmpond1]

Never underestimate people man. My in laws never removed the toilets and have had clients still use the bath tub and sinks for the toilet. The did this for 20+ days, so figure out the details from that.

I can't imagine.   Or don't want to.  

[Red]

if he changed the locks without permission, isnt there something you can do about him damaging property or something?  i would think that if one changed the locks and did not give a key to the owner/landlord/super, that would be a serious issue.  

if having a plumber remove the toilet dosent work, why not have a carpenter come in and remove the front door??  ;D  sure it is a security issue but i think the owner not being able to get into her own property is a big issue as well.

Cliff

[FD.]

Maybe it's time for the remodeling to begin.  No windows or doors this time of year might encourage him to relocate.

[fish-fighting-illini]

if he changed the locks without permission, isnt there something you can do about him damaging property or something? i would think that if one changed the locks and did not give a key to the owner/landlord/super, that would be a serious issue.

if having a plumber remove the toilet dosent work, why not have a carpenter come in and remove the front door?? ;D sure it is a security issue but i think the owner not being able to get into her own property is a big issue as well.

Cliff

  Maybe remove the door and put your own lock on it. Perhaps he'll get frustrated enough to get the hint.

[atx_newbie]

I know that most of these suggestions are being made jokingly, just make sure that you don't lose your cool and actually do something stupid.  Make sure to stay strictly within the law on this, or you could make things a lot worse from you.  Illinois state laws are designed to be very friendly to the tenants, so you don't want to do anything that will jeopardize your legal footing.

Believe me though, after 7 years in the business, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to go Tony Soprano style on some deadbeat.

[done]

As for damage allowing you to get rid of them...nope. the same people I told you about the sinks, ended up doing $30,000+ damager to the house.

It took my in-laws 30 days to get a legal eviction order served by a county sheriff. In the end they never got a dime from this person in terms of rent or damage and only got to keep their security deposit.

atx is right though, while it is tough for YOU to get anything from them, it is not tough for them to get stuff from you if you allow your anger to take over and do something like remove a door, toilet, chnage locks, etc.

Frequently these deadbeats know the system REAL well and will do thing just to get you to screw up. I would start legal proceedings ASAP against this guy. I just hope your state is better than NY. I would never rent anything in NY cause their laws amd judges are so biased against the landlord.