What can you do if tenant still does not move out after settlement? (Skokie: lease, condo)

[lincolnparker]

OK. I had this unpaying tenant for a few months and after me filing a complaint with the court, we (my lawyer and hers) eventually reached a settlement for her to move out by last week to avoid any court judgement or eviction, but now she refuses to move out anymore.

What is there to be done?

[JohnCU]

Isn't that what your lawyer is being paid to tell you?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by JohnCU

Isn't that what your lawyer is being paid to tell you?

Apparently not.

[Drover]

Uh, maybe seek judgment and eviction?

Or if you don't want the headache, another route to go is to pay her to move out.

[lenniel]

Can you cut off all the utilities to the unit? No light, no heat, no hot water, etc. She might get tired of that quickly. Otherwise, can you call the cops and have her arrested for trespassing.
She obviously is not taking your threats seriously at this point.

[Avengerfire]

^ No you cannot.^ That is illegal.

[Manigault]

Well, time is not your friend. For no cost you can give the tenant a 30 day written notice to leave, which just costs you printing. After that you can start the eviction process.

The bad part is that a 30 day notice becomes effective on the last day of the month after 30 days have expired. So we are talking April 30, 2009 for a notice today. If you give the tenant the notice tomorrow, the moveout day is May 30, 2009.

The foregoing in contingent on there being no lease. This is general information, not legal advice. Contact your lawyer.

[Humboldt1]

In my experience, landlords have a lot more to lose than tenants and are forced to generally play by the rules.

It is unfortunate you trusted your tenant at their word. Typically, tenants, especially in poorer neighborhoods (clearly Lincoln Park does not fit this bill) will lie steal and cheat in whatever ways they can get away with.

The best you can do now is serve eviction noticed and take them thru the courts, which may take several months. My guess is that you will have them out by June/July if you are lucky.

You should never have trusted your tenant at their word, just as I should never have trusted my tenant who is several months behind on rent with court date set for April 7th (originally March 24th, but the sherriff failed to serve eviction notice first time around). I will be lucky if I get them out by May 1st, which sucks because I have a nice family who is ready to move in the place on April 29th.

I am a good landlord and treat my tenants with respect. Word of this has gotten around in the neighborhood and I have had several inquiries regarding having places to rent. It took 3 years to build this rapport, especially being a yuppie white guy in Humboldt Park.

[Manigault]

See how folks get things mixed up? What does 'serve an eviction notice' mean? A five day notice to pay arrears? A summons to come to forcible detainer court (that's eviction court to y'all)?

If you file suit for eviction today, based on a failure to quit (leave) as promised, there is two weeks for service, about a week for a court date and then the judge gives the tenant two weeks to leave. So maybe the tenant is out by mid-May. Maybe.

Plus, since your tenant has a lawyer, technically you are supposed to communicate with that lawyer, not the tenant. Good luck with this one.

[IllNoize]

I just went through this and this is what I did to get that stupid, good for nothing, lying sack of $#@t out of my beautiful condo.

1. Give a 5 day notice Pay or Quit notice (Illinois Law). Send it Certified and even tape it to the front door and take a picture. Get the option to receive notification from the Post Office as proof of receipt. You can check it online or go back to P.O. for printout of signature. Judge may want that as proof.

2. Go to court house and file an eviction. You can send the eviction notice yourself via certified mail or pay another fee for the Sheriff to deliver the court notice. I opted for the Sherriff to deliver. It works better when a badge gives the notice to them. Again get notification of receipt.

3. Show up in court. Tenant should be there, if not judge will ask for proof of court papers delivery. Judge will most likely side with the landlord. In my case Judge asked if I wanted to work it out or proceed. I said I didn't want to settle and we proceeded. Sounds like here is where you agreed to settle...DOH! I wanted my 3 months rent + court costs and order of possession. Tenant tried to beg to the judge..blah blah blah, I told him I would pay, blah blah blah...Judge wasn't having it and I won the case. He gave tenant two weeks to leave and ordered her to pay me over $3k in back rent and fees. Getting her to pay is another story....maybe a follow up thread (I still haven't received any $$ from the judgement)

4. If tenant doesn't leave. You have to go back to the Sheriffs office with your judge ordered signed papers from court (step 3) and schedule an actual eviction. Sheriff will give a couple of warnings then a final warning. Professional rent scammers know the system and won't move out until the final warning. I heard "final warnings" can take up to 3-4 months though. If they don't leave after the final warning, Sheriff and his boys literally go in and toss EVERYTHING in the dumpster or street. I was lucky, the stupid biiiootch moved out little over two weeks.

I went to the Old Orchard courthouse in Skokie to file, I forget the room number just ask the help kiosk.. Sheriff's office in the basement. Total fees + Sherriff fees cost me around $260. You don't need an attorney to do any of this. The entire process took about 4 1/2 weeks. I also blasted her name all over the do not rent to type websites, blogs and message boards. Any smart landlord who does a google search for this deadbeat tenant will know right away not to rent to this person.

GL!