Evicting a tenant PLEASE HELP!!!?

Question

we have a tenant renting on of our houses (my grandfather owns it, my mother and I manage his properties) and she has been nothing but trouble since the beginning.

First- she moved her drug addict boyfriend in without asking.

Second- They painted the house super dark brown, and tore out the carpet (bringing 7 dogs into the house- all but two of the dogs are now gone) She told my grandfather we said they could do it, and told us he said they could do it. They are deceitful!

Third- I don't think they have EVER been on time with their rent.

Fourth- They didn't take care of the bathroom (meaning it has not been cleaned in the 2 years they have lived there) and so now the wall is rotting out.

Fifth- She is 3 months behind on rent. She had a baby about 5 months ago and moved into her mothers house as soon as she had it, leaving her boyfriend in our rental. She says she cannot live there because she has a baby and cannot live somewhere where the wall is rotting out.

We want to evict them so that we can make the MAJOR repairs (replacing the entire bathroom, re-installing carpet, and repairing holes in the walls that they caused)

The woman agreed initially to get out, she said one week- two at the most.

it has been 3 1/2 weeks. she kept putting it off ("i dont have time, I dont have a truck to haul my stuff"... ect)

well today we contacted her again and she said she was not going to get out. she said that her boyfriend has no other place to live. (NOT OUR PROBLEM!!)

She said she will pay for the repairs and we can just pay her back (WE WANT TO GET HER OUT- IF SHE CANT PAY RENT THEN HOW CAN SHE PAY FOR MAJOR REPAIRS?!!)

She said she can sue us because we have to give her 3 months (isn't that only if she wants to pay for the next 3 months? PLUS she is 3 months behind- She ows $2400! we don't want her money, we want her OUT ASAP BEFORE THEY CAUSE MORE DAMAGE!!!

I need advice?

Do we need to pay $500 to get a lawyer? can we just do it ourselves? How can we force her out? PLEASE HELP!

We are desperate to fix the house and get a new tenant!

We live in CALIFORNIA.

Answer 1

You are getting alot of bad advice so far.

Here is the deal:

1.  As soon as the tenant falls 30 days behind in rent (that means if the rent is due July 1st, and you don't have the rent IN FULL by August 1st...that's 30 days behind), you can file for an eviction for non-payment.

Just go straight down to the courthouse, and file for an eviction. It's that simple.

2.  Give them a 24 hour notice that you want to come in and change an air filter (bring a 50 cent air filter...don't tell them you are coming to inspect it)....bring a camera, and take pictures of the damage.

3.  Before you go to court, get a WRITTEN detailed estimate on all of the repairs, and sue for that as well.

It's that simple.  She cannot sue you for anything...call her bluff.

PS:  A sheriff WILL NOT "escort" them out unless you have got a formal eviction FROM THE COURT.

Answer 2

When it comes to non-payment of rent, it does not matter what type of lease or agreement they have.

You must issue a 3 day Notice to Pay or Quit.

You can issue a 30 day (lived there less than 1 year) or 60 day (lived there for more than 1 year) notice to quit at the same time.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

Serving both means that even if the tenant comes up with all the rent (highly unlikely) the 30 day notice would kick in and the tenant would be required to vacate in 30 days. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

Serving the notice(s):

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

Counting the 3 day notice period:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

If all past due rent is not paid in 3 days, you file for an Unlawful Detainer.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

Make sure her boyfriend is listed on the paperwork:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/oth...

Answer 3

Get a contractor, gave her the quotation, tell her to pay the contactor on the spot. If she see the sky high quotation..................................

If not, by force.

Answer 4

you as a landlord have the right to give him two weeks to either pay the arrears or leave the property. if neither is done by the due date then you can have a court order to get him out. if he still remains there then a court bailiff will take possession of the property and remove him    

Answer 5

You pay $35 at the local Small Claims Court and get an eviction.  Make sure you send the notices registered mail and keep a receipt.  You will win.  It will take 30 days.  The sheriff will escort her out.  Looking back, what warnings did you get when you first met her. You must do better next time or you need to get out of the landlording business. /

Answer 6

if they are month to month, then by law you have to give them 30 days notice.

if they do not leave in that 30 days time, you can legally go to the police station, and a sheriff will escort them out.

but you need to make that 30 day notice in writting, and i would have it notorized.

also, if the place is that bad, and they are that behind on rent, i would sue them for damages, you will not be able to just take it to civil court tho, because it sounds like there is more than $5000 worth of damage. you would need to get a lawyer, and i know this is a hassel and time consuming it may be worth it.

in the long run, it would effect them renting another house, which would save another landlord the trouble of going through this.

Answer 7

call ur d**n lawyer if u got into a contract agreement

Answer 8

If you are willing to pay $500 for a lawyer, why not offer her $250 if she leaves tomorrow. Don't pay until she is off your property. Or, as the landlord you are allowed access to the property, but you lost your key, so, in the interest of security, you had the locks changed. Did I mention that they just happened to be out at the time? (joke) Isn't the small claims limit $10K?

Answer 9

simple put a 3 day notice on the door....if no rent then a 15day .....still no response .....have a 3rd party or lawyer if you want to hire one, serve her papers saying get the **** out.... after that change the locks on the door and see that ***** in court!....to bad you cant do that in the begining but you have to do it legally so the judge will make her pay for the damage  

Answer 10

If they're on a month to month , that gives you the option to haul them outta there anytime you want!  The best thing to do is to hint that you've already gotten a lawyer, that should scare her pretty badly especially if shes  as trashy of a person as she seems to be.

Answer 11

you need to pay for a court ordered eviction and yes a lawyer that understands the legalities of real estate is a must. The money that is spent on lawyers and legal fees pales in comparison to a tenant living in a property for 3 or 4 months that you can clear at the very least 600 a month. After the process goes through you have to give them more time to move. An eviction usually isn't the day or even the week of the notice. When you talk about money I wouldn't state in a public forum such as this that you do not want their money.