Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I will try to make this very short, but it is very convuluted and complex. We have a house in Dallas, we put it on the market several years ago because we were moving. The house did not sell in 6 months, so we decided to just rent it to cover the mortgage. Leased the house for one year with the stipulation that after a year the house would be put back on the market or the tenant would have the option to buy. Fast Forward 5 yrs. We did not renew the lease, we have gone month-to-month for the past 4 yrs. Renter is pretty good about paying rent. Last year sent a certified letter stating that we were going to put the house on the market. We also gave the tenant the option to buy the house outright. The tenant calls us and states that she would love to buy the house. This is where is gets sticky. It took us from May until September to finally get a signed contract. That should have been the first signal. Had title problems due to fact that the title company did not file of record the release of lien to the seller. The title company has since closed and we could not find the funding documents. Of course I am paying a mortgage, so our bank should easily come up with these documents. No, it took over 7 weeks to get correct documents filed of record. OK, yay, we are ready to close. Call the tenant at the end of December, everything is ready at the Title Co. when is good for you to close. Tenant says that she is leaving town the next day and won't return for 3 weeks. OK, lets schedule closing for end of January. She says maybe she will get back to us on a good date. That should have been the second signal. OK, she gets back into town, we call her all week to verify the date is good for everyone. Send emails, texts and calls from us and the title company. Finally, the day that we decide to close she sends us a long text saying that she has decided to not buy the house. She has a business opportunity out of the country that she cannot pass up. Well, you can't really fault her for that. I would jump at the opportunity. She says that she will move out now if we want her to. But she probably won't be leaving until June. Fine. Stay, no problem. But, we let her know that day we would put the house on the market ASAP. Spoke to a realtor and signed a contract a couple of weeks later for them to list the house. Everyone is happy. House doesn't even go on the market, real estate agent shows the house to an investor, we get an offer. Just like that in two weeks. Yay us! But we have tried to contact the tenant, who is out of town again. We texted a notice to vacate, emailed a notice to vacate and sent a certified letter notice to vacate. Crickets...she will not respond. We have been so patient. We have given her every opportunity to respond. IT is clearly stated that she has to be out of the house on the day of closing, which is a 30 days notice. She is acting like she is put out and that she is entitled to something. I don't know what she expects, she basically led us on for months. I am so worried that the day of closing she is going to be out of town again and all of her belongings will still be in the house. I know that we cannot take possession of her belongings. But is there any kind of warnings we can send her to make her realize that she HAS to be out on the day of closing? What protection do we have? What happens if the buyer backs out because the tenant won't budge?
Not sure about the laws in Texas. I'd consult with an attorney. You need to have all your ducks in order to do this properly and legally so please consult a professional and don't guess about what your next move should be.
You need to speak to a Texas attorney familiar with real estate law. Generally, if you have served her with proper notice for terminating the lease, you can put her property out onto the curb. However, you might have to file an official eviction proceeding, wherein the sheriff or other governmental entity will remove all the tenant's belongings. A local attorney should know the proper procedures. You may want to speed up the lease termination date, if this is possible, so that it is all settled by the time you close.
If it's a month to month lease simply send her the proper notice of lease termination. If she refuses to leave she becomes a holdover tenant. As long as you accept the rent she can stay. So you cannot accept rent from her. You file for unlawful detainer and then proceed with eviction.
Time to lawyer up to make absolutely sure that the tenant is receiving the proper notices with the proper amount of lead time, etc.
I'd have been very tempted to sue her for non-performance on the purchase of the home. Hindsight is 20/20, but I'd have also kicked her out right then and there. You probably feel the same way, too.
She knows, she's just hoping if she doesn't respond that you won't be able to do anything. I bet if you discover that you will be able to curb her stuff and evict her on the day of closing and notify her accordingly, she'll suddenly become very communicative. On the other hand, she might not be terribly careful about moving out, either, and you'll find yourself with damages to deal with.
Check the house. See if she moved already. I guess you're checking on her social media.
Tell your tenant it is unfortunate that her actions have forced you to file an eviction suit as this is stressful for you and will hamper her in future rentals. (Although, being overseas, they might not check so she might not care.)
Check with your lawyer to see if you can sue her for a lost buyer.
At any rate, as dablackga suggests, you may have to start an eviction.
Texas has some interesting laws. There's the Landlord's Lien. If she stops paying rent in full (again, lawyer for length of time to be sure) you have a right to peacefully remove the inside contents of the house...not the outside yard stuff...and sell it for the amount of the rent. BUT The landlord's lien can be enforced by the landlord without taking any formal action in court ONLY if it is spelled out specifically in the lease, and the lease provision is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold print. The landlord cannot sell or dispose of the property unless this also is written in the lease. .
You can also go in the house and remove the contents , I understand, if the house has been abandoned. You will need to check with your attorney how the word "abandoned" is legally defined.
This is in no way meant to be negative, just helpful. Paragraphs make your post more accessible. Just two days ago I read a post that was one large paragraph free sentence and it was a struggle to finish. I will not do that again, sorry.
I will try to make this very short, but it is very convuluted and complex. We have a house in Dallas, we put it on the market several years ago because we were moving. The house did not sell in 6 months, so we decided to just rent it to cover the mortgage. Leased the house for one year with the stipulation that after a year the house would be put back on the market or the tenant would have the option to buy. Fast Forward 5 yrs. We did not renew the lease, we have gone month-to-month for the past 4 yrs. Renter is pretty good about paying rent. Last year sent a certified letter stating that we were going to put the house on the market. We also gave the tenant the option to buy the house outright. The tenant calls us and states that she would love to buy the house. This is where is gets sticky. It took us from May until September to finally get a signed contract. That should have been the first signal. Had title problems due to fact that the title company did not file of record the release of lien to the seller. The title company has since closed and we could not find the funding documents. Of course I am paying a mortgage, so our bank should easily come up with these documents. No, it took over 7 weeks to get correct documents filed of record. OK, yay, we are ready to close. Call the tenant at the end of December, everything is ready at the Title Co. when is good for you to close. Tenant says that she is leaving town the next day and won't return for 3 weeks. OK, lets schedule closing for end of January. She says maybe she will get back to us on a good date. That should have been the second signal. OK, she gets back into town, we call her all week to verify the date is good for everyone. Send emails, texts and calls from us and the title company. Finally, the day that we decide to close she sends us a long text saying that she has decided to not buy the house. She has a business opportunity out of the country that she cannot pass up. Well, you can't really fault her for that. I would jump at the opportunity. She says that she will move out now if we want her to. But she probably won't be leaving until June. Fine. Stay, no problem. But, we let her know that day we would put the house on the market ASAP. Spoke to a realtor and signed a contract a couple of weeks later for them to list the house. Everyone is happy. House doesn't even go on the market, real estate agent shows the house to an investor, we get an offer. Just like that in two weeks. Yay us! But we have tried to contact the tenant, who is out of town again. We texted a notice to vacate, emailed a notice to vacate and sent a certified letter notice to vacate. Crickets...she will not respond. We have been so patient. We have given her every opportunity to respond. IT is clearly stated that she has to be out of the house on the day of closing, which is a 30 days notice. She is acting like she is put out and that she is entitled to something. I don't know what she expects, she basically led us on for months. I am so worried that the day of closing she is going to be out of town again and all of her belongings will still be in the house. I know that we cannot take possession of her belongings. But is there any kind of warnings we can send her to make her realize that she HAS to be out on the day of closing? What protection do we have? What happens if the buyer backs out because the tenant won't budge?
If you put something in writing allowing her to stay til June...that may be a problem. I think the investor will know how to handle this....
Check the house. See if she moved already. I guess you're checking on her social media.
Tell your tenant it is unfortunate that her actions have forced you to file an eviction suit as this is stressful for you and will hamper her in future rentals. (Although, being overseas, they might not check so she might not care.)
Check with your lawyer to see if you can sue her for a lost buyer.
At any rate, as dablackga suggests, you may have to start an eviction.
Texas has some interesting laws. There's the Landlord's Lien. If she stops paying rent in full (again, lawyer for length of time to be sure) you have a right to peacefully remove the inside contents of the house...not the outside yard stuff...and sell it for the amount of the rent. BUT The landlord's lien can be enforced by the landlord without taking any formal action in court ONLY if it is spelled out specifically in the lease, and the lease provision is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold print. The landlord cannot sell or dispose of the property unless this also is written in the lease. .
You can also go in the house and remove the contents , I understand, if the house has been abandoned. You will need to check with your attorney how the word "abandoned" is legally defined.
What actions? I thought the problem is specifically lack of action.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
