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Old 09-15-2011, 01:25 PM
 
Location: South Bend, IN & Baltimore, MD
34 posts, read 106,160 times
Reputation: 28

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Looking for some insight, but I'll accept commiseration, too.

I recently rented the small apartment over my carriage house out to a new tenant. Typically I've had grad students in there and they've been pretty trouble free.

This time I rented it to a guy who was coming here for work, while still technically living about 4 hours away. His wife was staying at their place and he was planning to go back on weekends to visit her. Not that unusual -- I'm in a very similar situation myself.

He's a sales guy or something, and wanted to cut a deal. I had the place listed at 12 months, 450 a month, he wanted a 10 month lease at 400 per month and said he'd pay it all in advance if I agreed to it. So I did. He looked over the place, asked if I could have the carpets steamed and a new coat of paint before he moved in. I told him I'd steam the carpets, but at the rate he was getting I wasn't going to paint the place. He offered to do the work if I bought the paint and gave him an additional discount on the first month, I countered that I'd buy the paint but he'd already gotten a very large discount vs my usual tenant.

He agreed to that, and a week or so later, he showed up with a friend and his furniture, handed me the check, signed the lease, and moved in.

The only comment he made following that was that he was having a hard time connecting to my wifi. I suggested he try it from a different room that had a clearer line of sight (to make sure he was doing it right in the first place and it wasn't simply user error) and never heard back from him on it.

About a week later, he emails me, telling me that he wants to cancel his lease, because his wife didn't like the place and refuses to come visit him if he's staying in it. Understandably not a great situation for him, but not a valid reason to break a lease. I reminded him that buyers remorse isn't a valid reason, and that he'd inspected the place twice before moving in. All the relevant communication has occurred via email -- the face to face bit when we signed was small talk unrelated. So I have a complete log of all communications.

It was a 10 month lease, with no provision for early lease breaking. From what I've read on various places online, if there's no provision, he owes the entire year, but I have to attempt to rent it, and once it's rented, his liability ends (and I could charge him some kind of fee for the time/expenses incurred in finding a new tenant). I told him via email that that was how I think the laws work on the matter, and to keep in mind that we were past the time when it's easy to find tenants here (the 2 months or so before fall semester starts), so it might take a while. I told him a day or so later that I would consider doing a similar lease break to the one I had myself when my TN job ended early -- required 45 days notice and a 1 month penalty, so effectively 3 months rent. I thought that might be a better option for him because it would get him off the hook and I could refund part of his rent immediately. He didn't reply to either message.

And today, I found out that he put a stop payment on the $4400 check he wrote me before moving in. Note: the lease terms include a 20% fee for checks being returned for any reason.

This is just ridiculous. I know I should've turned him down from the start and kept looking, because he was giving off bad vibes, but I'd wasted 8 weeks holding the place for someone else (who hadn't signed a lease) who decided at the last minute that they weren't going to move closer to work after all. And because I work approximately half of each month 10 hours away, not having to screw around with collecting and depositing rent checks sounded nice.

So... anyone have any advice or suggestions? (Tops on my list are already "get initial payments in guaranteed funds", "listen to your gut", and "stick with grad students, they're too busy to be a pain")
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Old 09-15-2011, 01:52 PM
 
912 posts, read 5,249,022 times
Reputation: 2089
I think you should contact an attorney ASAP.

The tenant has possession of the property, so you can't just change the locks.

Stopping payment on the check was a dirty move. You can expect this guy to have a heck of a lot more dirty moves up his sleeve.

I think you should prepare for war. Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt, and file eviction proceedings as soon as humanly possible. Heck, I would probably just stop communication with this person.

Personally, I never sign a lease, nor give the keys to a property until the security deposit and 1st and last month check has cleared beyond shadow of a doubt.

Best of luck, I think you are going to need it.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:02 PM
 
Location: Beautiful Rhode Island
9,260 posts, read 14,834,877 times
Reputation: 10284
Agree. Start eviction proceedings today. Just look up landlord tenant law for your state. You don't need an attorney immediately. Just follow the correct procedure and use the right form.

Your big mistake was not depositing his check immediately on receipt. Now you've got nothing and he's got the apt.

Good luck to you- let's hope he leaves soon without destroying the place.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:10 PM
 
Location: Simmering in DFW
6,952 posts, read 22,645,188 times
Reputation: 7296
I do feel badly for you. If anything, your post has helped some of us who lease out to others. I would first try and have a meeting with him to discuss. Also,I would research taking him to small claims court. Since he signed a lease, I am assuming you have quite a bit of information on him (copy of drivers' license, lease application with work & home info, ssn) in order to pursue going after him in small claims court. For $4000, I am not a person to spend $2K on a lawyer. If it was me, I would have a face to face conversation with him. Find out how much he does think he owes you at this point and if you and he can agree on the process for ending the lease in an amicable way. He does owe you for at least the rate of now until you can find another tenant. But, I also think you can have a meaningful conversation that conveys a willingness to find another tenant to help him end his lease early. If I had a tenant that emailed me with the problem your tenant presented to you, I would phone him and find out if he could convince wifey to hang on while we work together to find another tenant. Initially, all this guy got back from you was "buyer's remorse isn't a valid reason."
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:25 PM
 
Location: Clermont Fl
1,715 posts, read 4,768,553 times
Reputation: 1246
Start eviction proceedings Why would you take a check as you no now never ever always cash to get the keys or you wait till the check clears.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:33 PM
 
Location: South Bend, IN & Baltimore, MD
34 posts, read 106,160 times
Reputation: 28
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hollytree View Post
Your big mistake was not depositing his check immediately on receipt. Now you've got nothing and he's got the apt.
But I did deposit the check, on 9/8, and it posted to my account on 9/9. I logged into my account today and my available balance was down by that amount, but there was nothing in the transaction history to that effect, so I called my buddy at the bank and had him check my account information. He said it showed a stop payment was issued for the check.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:37 PM
 
Location: South Bend, IN & Baltimore, MD
34 posts, read 106,160 times
Reputation: 28
If I evict him, I'm effectively letting him off from paying the rent he owes, right? He's supposedly planning to move out this weekend anyway, so I don't want to hurt my chances of getting reimbursed unless he doesn't move out.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:44 PM
 
Location: Southern California
3,113 posts, read 8,363,898 times
Reputation: 3721
Quote:
Originally Posted by narual View Post
But I did deposit the check, on 9/8, and it posted to my account on 9/9. I logged into my account today and my available balance was down by that amount, but there was nothing in the transaction history to that effect, so I called my buddy at the bank and had him check my account information. He said it showed a stop payment was issued for the check.
If you're going to accept a personal check for the initial deposit and rent, instead of a cashier's check, then it's probably best to drive directly to the check writer's bank and cash it right then and there. Depositing it in your account makes the process take longer, which gives time for people like this time to issue a stop payment.

Another reason to go directly to their bank, if possible, is if the check is going to bounce, I'd much rather be told in person, right away that day, and not be charged any fees by my bank.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:53 PM
 
912 posts, read 5,249,022 times
Reputation: 2089
Quote:
Originally Posted by narual View Post
If I evict him, I'm effectively letting him off from paying the rent he owes, right? He's supposedly planning to move out this weekend anyway, so I don't want to hurt my chances of getting reimbursed unless he doesn't move out.
If you evict, he would still be liable for any rent he actually owes you, as stated in your lease and Tenant & Landlord laws in your area.

Now, actually collecting on the other hand, is a completely different story.
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Old 09-15-2011, 03:32 PM
 
4,399 posts, read 10,649,716 times
Reputation: 2383
Quote:
Originally Posted by CarlitosBala View Post
If you evict, he would still be liable for any rent he actually owes you, as stated in your lease and Tenant & Landlord laws in your area.
Thats not true....An eviction terminates the lease. The tenant would only pay the amount up until the eviction.
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