[mitchmiller9]

I recently bought a condo that already was leased to tenants until Jan 31, 2018. I'm using a mgmt. company to collect rent. The tenants have stopped paying rent and the mgmt. company has mailed them a pay or quit notice.

I had planned to move into the property sometime after Jan 31, 2018. If the property is vacated before then, I'm not sure if I'm obliged to re-lease it based on the contract I signed w/the management company. The contract states I must give them 60 days notice before the end of the lease if I don't want them to draw up a new lease. Given the tenants may be evicted far sooner than the end of the lease, I'm not sure how to interpret that clause. There's also an exit clause stating I can terminate the contract on 30-day notice.

The mgmt. company charges $75/hour for "extra" services. I'm assuming the will charge me for a lot of "extra" services if I have to go through the entire eviction process.

Has anyone dealt with an eviction process?
Has anyone dealt with an abandoned rental property, where the tenants simply left? What rights would an owner have to enter the property without consent of the tenants to see if they were still there?

[luckydogg]

I own a rental property that is managed by a property management firm, although I have never had an eviction. But I do know the eviction process needs to be handled legally "to the letter" with regard to serving papers and if you as a landlord do anything that violates landlord-tenant law (i.e. enter without consent) you can be sued. The prop management firm should know the law but if they don't have a lot of experience I would speak with an attorney just to make sure everything is done correctly. With an eviction the prop management firm may let you out of the contract for a small break fee (my property management firm is very reasonable about stuff like that they don't want to **** the owners off since they are their bread and butter).

If the tenants abandon the property and you were going to move into it anyway, as long as they don't cause any damage I would probably just write the whole thing off as a learning experience and let it go. Eventually I am going to move into my own rental also, so I am just happy to have some income till then. Good luck..

[mitchmiller9]

Thanks for your comments.

This web site seems to be pretty comprehensive about the process one much follow. Given that the mgmt. company was the party to which the tenant had been paying rent, I'm thinking it's probably safer to let them handle the eviction, if it comes to that.

Filing A Summary Eviction - Civil Law Self-Help Center

Abandonment - Civil Law Self-Help Center

[luckydogg]

Yes I would advise letting your prop management firm handle it since if you get involved you may bring some type of liability upon yourself that you don't want or need. The courts are not very sympathetic to landlords even for making honest mistakes, unfortunately. Hopefully the tenants will either get caught up on rent, or just vacate the property quickly and quietly and other than maybe some cleanup you'll have full control over it and can move in. Hope it all works out for you!

[sjterry]

I used to be a Las Vegas Constable and performed thousands of evictions. I know the eviction process well. I can explain it if you are in need.

[ddrhazy]

You don't need to jump through hoops if the tenants leave the property. Your management company may want some money for the remaining months they could've rented it out for. Tell them you're not interested in renting it out again and that you'll be moving into it yourself and see what they say.

If the tenants stay then you need to continue the eviction process.