Tenant eviction help
 

Hi, looking for advice or a good contact to deal with a tenant that is refusing to vacate my property. He stated that he wanted to break the lease early and would leave by the end of last month. However, multiple excuses later (and no rent paid) he’s still on my property and I’m concerned he may not leave. Thanks!

I hope you find someone and you can get him out. Sounds like a nightmare. Just another reminder for me as to why I don’t rent my house out. Good luck.

How to evict a tenant How To Evict a Tenant in Florida: A Simple Guide for Landlords

Thank you! I hope so too.

Great, Thank you!

Good luck, there’s been an eviction moratorium since COVID (Spring 2020). So no “notice to vacate” have been filed for about 15 months. It’s supposed to expire this month, so the courts will be flooded with evictions. Your best course of action is a letter and a lot of pressure.

Thanks! That’s been our strategy so far but not too successful. Just getting a lot of empty promises.

One possible tactic is to offer a cash payment to the tenant. That is often how banks handle people who won't leave after a foreclosure, and also to ensure that they don't damage the property.

Evicting is not easy, I wish you luck and gods speed getting them out.

I'd suggest first contacting a lawyer who specializes in landlord / tenant issues to get their advice, but the above is likely the best (cheapest & quickest) strategy to start with, it's referred to as "Cash for Keys".

How much is monthly rent? Let's assume it's $2,000/month--offer the tenant $4,000 (in cash, not a check) if they vacate the premises within 2 weeks and leave it in good condition. I know this sounds crazy and you're rewarding this person for bad / unethical behavior, but what are your other options and likely outcomes?

You can try to evict, but even with a lawyer's help, this will likely take months, so you've lost $2,000 in rent each additional month. Plus you'll have to pay lawyer's fees on top of that. Let's assume it's $2,000 to get a lawyer to handle the case for you--if it takes three months to get the tenant evicted, going the normal lawyer route ends up cost you $6,000. Versus $4,000 to have him/her out in two weeks.

Which outcome do you prefer?

Eviction vs. Trespassing.

"Well, blow me down" :mad:
Have your Husband eat some Spinach, then have him grab this squatter by the neck and throw his A** overboard.

You certainly don't need a lawyer. When you consider the cost of filing and serving (about 300.00 in Sumter county) to start eviction you are better off offering 500.00 to leave within a week.

Great suggestions, cash talks for sure. I think I may try but he is the type of person to take the cash and still not be out. I’ve offered in-kind offers like get out now and I’ll subtract moving costs from whatever you still owe, but I think he has no intention of paying anything this month so why take a reduction of nothing. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions, appreciate it!

Funny but, reality the husband would end up in jail. Sadly the property owner will likely not get the rent, a loss, the property will not be left as it was and they will pay an attorney to get rid of this ????????????

Can you turn off utilities?

No. You don't give him the cash until he leaves. You meet at the house with a locksmith and a large friend, inspect the house, get him to sign a release agreement, and then hand over the cash.

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

That is probably illegal.

Not if you can’t pay because you didn’t get the rent that is supposed to pay it.

Florida Statute 83.67 says a landlord cannot directly or indirectly cut off any utility service, including water, heat, light, electricity, gas, elevator operations, garbage collection, or refrigeration — not even if the landlord is paying for the service.

Ah, I thought so.

In the ‘good old days’ my dad would physically throw a very unreasonable person out and all their belongings on the lawn and tell them to go sue him.

I miss the "good old days".

Does the tenant leave to go shopping? ie, can someone watch the house and then when the tenant leaves, the locks can be changed?

sucks and the biggest risk to the landlord, always

That sounds good to me, but it would an illegal eviction under Florida law. The landlord could be sued by the tenant and it wouldn't turn out well.

Landlord and a few of his best friends move in?

Agree. I would not have the law on my side. The tenant would then burn down the house probably, who knows! :(

That is actually not far off from my new plan!

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.

I guess this is a moment for a gun and the home is my castle defense.
The Castle Doctrine in Florida | The Firearm Firm

defenseless guy

Read post #3, that explains what OP an and can’t do.

Wow! So sorry that happened. What a nightmare!

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.

The problem is that the OP is not dealing with a simple debt. The state law recognizes that a tenant has significant rights because the OP's house is the tenant's residence. And, the Federal Government has placed a moritorium against evictions at least until the end of July. So, evicting him could violate Federal law. Never accepting a partial payment could result in the OP losing access to his property for a very long time.

For those renting their place who think this can’t happen to them, it is happening all over the country, even in fairly affluent neighborhoods. Here’s an article about a Wall Street executive at Cantor Fitzgerald who is not leaving his rental in the Hamptons.
The Wall Street Executive Who Won’t Leave His Rented Hamptons Mansion | Vanity Fair

The law is on the side of the renter.

Let's be honest, all the laws are to protect the poor tenant, not the poor owners.

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

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."

From what I understand, The states can override this. Not sure how it all works. You would have to ask them. Tony at Evictions plus speaks at several meetings about the whole process. I am in several real estate investment groups throughout Tampa and the landlords are switching
to month to month rentals. If the lease runs out, they have to leave or be evicted. I know people there with 100's of rentals each that are doing that. The Villages is a different story. Renters are much more responsible here. Not saying all, but the majority.

sounds like a real slimeball. Out him. Name, photo here. and then get a lawyer