Rights of Occupants (Austin: apartment, to rent, evictions)

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Houston321

I agree, start the eviction process. Also, there should be a provision in your lease as to how many people are allowed in the home and for how long. I assume they violated this provision, along with many others....like not paying rent.

My best guess is there was no written lease.

[Houston321]

Yeah, you are right. Even if it's family, put everything in writing. It's just a good rule of life.

[LizzySWW]

Originally Posted by WRM20

It's far better to give the 3 days notice required by law that an eviction proceeding will be filed, then file it. Texas JP courts act quickly on these issues, and are very landlord friendly. Fail to follow the law, and they will give the tenants the maximum penalty under the law, which includes attorney fees.

I have a different take on that, TX courts don't arrive at quick resolutions in a lot of eviction cases. Try and convince a bunch of landlords who've had their homes destroyed by squatters that TX is landlord friendly, that won't go over well. Eviction works for some, but it's disingenuous to make blanket statements about the process.

Sometimes it takes months and years for owners to get justice. And that "justice" can be a real joke as jobless squatters don't have money pay what they're ordered to pay. The eviction process can buy squatters enough time to destroy your house and sue for personal injury "accidents" - additionally, the owner has to miss work for court appearances, lose rental income and absorbs the emotional turmoil.

There's more than one way to handle squatters - I still think it's better for owners to use the old school Texas Justice method. (Where's a cowboy hat wearing smiley when you need one?) Get them out and be done with it, I'd rather pay their atty fee's than have my house destroyed.

[groovamos]

OK I know a pair of siblings in Austin, both in their '70's now, with dozens of properties. The sister had a property manager help with a small complex she owned in a kind of questionable neighborhood in NE Austin. This property manager would just enter a rental unit that was in arrears and take the most expensive stuff out of there. Not legally of course but the tenants never had the money to go after him.

The brother was even more radical. He would personally go to a problem rental, take stuff and remove the front door. Not legal either but the authorities never bothered him about it up there. This was in the '80's and '90's

You could maybe do both and leave a notice that the belongings will be returned upon turning over the space back to you in good condition, no vandalism.

I have had several instances of vandalism to my properties during an eviction and even after a notice to vacate. This is the problem of going that route and following the law. The law generally is not in favor of the landlord in this situation, and it's even much worse in other states.

Originally Posted by Houston321

Yeah, you are right. Even if it's family, put everything in writing. It's just a good rule of life.

Never rent to family or friends or family members of friends. Every time I did it, even tho I knew better, it mucked up everything.

My brother in Chattanooga rented to his pretty responsible son, and is really sorry he did.

[Failed Engineer]

I'd see if I could get them all out of your house and into someone else's rental by paying 6 months of rent or so for them. You'd be out some money but the priority is to somehow get them out of your property. If you can do it by sweetening the pot for them somehow it is by far your best option.

As far as the legal eviction vs. other renegade methods, that really is for your own risk tolerance. The assessment you have to make is how legally savvy the occupants are. As mentioned above, a lot of these types of tenants aren't going to go after you legally, may not be aware of their rights, and not driven enough to know their rights. OTOH, there are people that try EXACTLY this sort of stunt to have a place to live without paying and know precisely what to do if you don't do everything by the letter of the law. And many people in between.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by LizzySWW

I have a different take on that, TX courts don't arrive at quick resolutions in a lot of eviction cases. Try and convince a bunch of landlords who've had their homes destroyed by squatters that TX is landlord friendly, that won't go over well. Eviction works for some, but it's disingenuous to make blanket statements about the process.

Sometimes it takes months and years for owners to get justice. And that "justice" can be a real joke as jobless squatters don't have money pay what they're ordered to pay. The eviction process can buy squatters enough time to destroy your house and sue for personal injury "accidents" - additionally, the owner has to miss work for court appearances, lose rental income and absorbs the emotional turmoil.

There's more than one way to handle squatters - I still think it's better for owners to use the old school Texas Justice method. (Where's a cowboy hat wearing smiley when you need one?) Get them out and be done with it, I'd rather pay their atty fee's than have my house destroyed.

It's never taken my brother in law more than a week to get an eviction proceeding completed.

It's always better to follow the law on this.

[LizzySWW]

Originally Posted by WRM20

It's always better to follow the law on this.

Try this: "In my opinion, it's always better to follow the law on this."

Originally Posted by WRM20

It's never taken my brother in law more than a week to get an eviction proceeding completed.

It's great the system worked for him, not everyone is so lucky!

[RoamingTX]

Originally Posted by LizzySWW

Waiting on a court order can take months or even years, especially if they try the adverse possession trick. Also, the longer they squat in your home, the more time they have to become "injured" and sue you for millions because that old deck board in the attic cracked caused them to crash thru the ceiling leaving them with a back condition that prevents them from ever being employed again.

Personally, I'd take my chances of having to pay a fee for infringing on the criminals rights and would get them out of my house immediately. Any protection she'd have in monetary terms after waiting for an eviction wouldn't matter since these are jobless grifters anyway.

OP, you can legally lock them this way. I think it's a good alternative if you can't or don't have anybody to move them out while they're out of the house:

Texas law authorizes landlords to lockout tenants as an alternative to judicial eviction. A landlord can change the locks on a tenant who is delinquent in paying the rent. Before changing the locks, the landlord or his agent must place a written notice on the tenant's front door stating the address and phone number of the individual or company from which a new key may be obtained. The landlord is only required to provide a new key during regular business hours and only if the tenant pays the delinquent rent.

Be sure and do it at 4:59 on a Friday afternoon!

In the history of bad advice, the above would be just short of a recommendation to eat yellow snow or pet a flaming dog. Literally, that would be the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.

3 Day Pay or Quit for your GS and all Jane/John Doe's (they're actually tenants now)
File for eviction

Done.

It's very fast and easy in Texas, and honestly, they'll probably all just leave the minute you post the 3-Day notice.

[LizzySWW]

Originally Posted by RoamingTX

In the history of bad advice, the above would be just short of a recommendation to eat yellow snow or pet a flaming dog. Literally, that would be the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.

So it's good to mock differing opinions from yours in this thread......while advocating tolerance of differing opinions to fit your agenda below.

Originally Posted by RoamingTX

That’s a strange reaction to someone not falling in lockstep with your opinion.

This sounds a lot like someone with no experience dealing with bad tenant evacuations:

Originally Posted by RoamingTX

It's very fast and easy in Texas, and honestly, they'll probably all just leave the minute you post the 3-Day notice.

You *think* squatters would *probably* leave.......

Since I'm just a dumb old dog pee eater I don't understand the smart logic behind squatters (people actively engaging in criminal activity) immediately leaving the premises because a piece of paper on the door said so.


Before condemning alternate ways of dealing with these scum bags, maybe read up on the heartbreaking stories from landlords, some face financial devastation after following the legal eviction process. Sometimes judges favor squatters rights (what an oxymoron, right?) which allows them to live in the house for a good amount of time before the ordered police eviction. This buys the crooks enough time to pull stunts like adverse possession or removing all the kitchen appliances and A/C unit to sell. And once they're ordered to pay for killing the house, they have money to pay. This is why some people favor getting them out safely but unlawfully.......because following the law with known criminals can cause you to go bankrupt.

[Soccernerd]

I don’t know anything about owner/occupant rights in Texas, but it seems like taking action is a lose/lose proposition. You can either to it through the system, it takes forever, and they destroy everything. Or you throw their stuff out in the streets and change the locks and risk lawsuits. My vote is to do it the legal way and learn from your mistakes.