Originally Posted by wisbad1 (Post 1975746)

Can you turn off utilities?

Originally Posted by village dreamer (Post 1975750)

i was thinking the same thing, shut off power and water asap

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 1975752)

That is probably illegal.

Originally Posted by Shadywood (Post 1975848)

Well, I wouldn't count on the Sumter County cops for help. They refused to even help me evict a burglar.

Yesterday, I drove straight to my new turn-key rental property, from the closing that deeded everything but the toilet paper to me. I discovered the prior owners in my new living room, helping themselves to my new TV. They had already stolen a chair and various wall decorations, including an expensive wall-mounted grandfather clock, all of which I'd discovered and documented during the walk-through that morning. The closers were no help in recovering my stolen property, and it would have cost $10K to cancel the deal. So after signing, I raced to Lowes and then to the property, to change the locks as quickly as possible. The sellers beat me there.

I called 911, and after numerous attempts to get through, the moment I mentioned that I'd just bought the house, they refused to get involved and told me to "contact my closer".

After a lot of shouting (and insults to my Southern heritage), the burglars finally left without my TV, claiming they had only invaded my property to get the cable box. How that makes it OK, I guess you'll have to ask a non-hillbilly. In any case, the only thing they left with was some piece of furniture in their trunk that I hadn't seen until they they were driving away. Whatever it was, it wasn't in my pictures from the prior inspection a couple of weeks earlier, but there was a flattened place in the bedroom carpet.

They could have had all of it, if they'd just asked, instead of stealing it. I didn't buy the house for the furniture.

But the most alarming thing I learned is that our cops apparently refuse to get involved in burglaries where they might be called upon to break up a fight. That doesn't bode well for your problem of evicting a squatter.

Originally Posted by valuemkt (Post 1975921)

You dont need a lecture after the fact, but this is why you do credit and background checks. And get positive identification (drivers license) and proof of employment as part of your screening process. in the unlikely event he is currently employed, you can go through the legal process to secure a judgment and start the wage garnishment process. unfortunately, people are currently being paid to NOT work these days, but that doesnt mean that putting late notices on his credit report, securing judgments etc won;t be some level of leverage if he is a (formerly) upright citizen. If he is a professional deadbeat, you;ve learned a very painful and costly lesson. Have you given them a formal NOTICE TO PAY OR QUIT ? Tack the notice onto the front door and followup with a certified letter (which they probably wont sign for). Then start the legal process to drag them into court, all the while reporting to the three credit agencies his delinquency. Under no circumstances should you ever accept partial payment.

Originally Posted by mjd1964 (Post 1976044)

Here is a link to a great company. Based in Tampa, but do evictions all across Florida. They have restarted evictions months ago in Florida. I wanna say 6 months or more. I have rentals in another state, and can't do anything at all till next month. My rentals are tens of thousands of dollars behind in rent. Soon as I can, I will be getting out of those rentals in that state and get them in Florida.

Evictions Plus | Independent Eviction Sertvices

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 1976047)

How do they avoid this Federal directive?

"CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has signed an extension to the eviction moratorium further preventing the eviction of tenants who are unable to make rental payments. The moratorium that was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2021 is now extended through July 31, 2021 and this is intended to be the final extension of the moratorium."