[jasonvermont]

Hello this has been a great thread so far and very informative. I have been renting a small off grid cabin Craftsbury for almost two years now. A few months ago my first tenants moved out and I rented to a guy who has sort of stopped paying and I want out ASAP. When he moved in I had him sign a month to month with first months rent and a sec. dep.. Upon signing the contract he said he was 100 short on the sec. dep.. I should have refused then and there but gave the guy a break as he told me he could send it in two days. Well a week goes by and nothing I call him and he states he forgot and was on his way to the post office to send at that moment. Of course it never showed up and numerous text's and phone calls since have gone unanswered. He moved in on Aug 1st and the rent was payable on the first of every month. On Sept 4th not having received the due rent either I left a 14 day notice to quit on the door and sent one certified mail to the house. A certificate of service was also notarized on that day for the mail and door delivery. Oddly enough two days ago I received a money order from him for the current months rent but not the sec. dep. remainder. The 14 days expires this thursday and even if he pays the other 100 before then I will still want him gone (yes my notice did state he could stay if he paid in full) as it is just a sign of future trouble. I was even nice enough to tell the guy when I first rented to talk to me if he had a payment issue so we could work something out. But of course he is dodging me. After all that sorry for rambling on my questions are these:

What specifically is the name of the action I must file in court? EG Motion to Evict, Motion for Writ of Possession etc.

What are the court fees to start the process?

He works in a different County than the house is in can I file the case in the home county and have another County's Sheriffs serve the summons? This would be to reduce cost of the Sheriff going out there looking for him many times and charging me for each.

Thanks!

[FrugalYankee]

Take a look at this:

Success with The Vermont Eviction Process and Notice to Quit Form

Basically you will need to file a Motion for Ejectment and a Summons ordering him to respond, and you will also need to file an Affidavit that everything you say is true.

The motions for judgment, writ of possession come later. If the guy doesn't respond you can file for Summary Judgment and Writ of Possession. The Writ will have to be delivered by the Sheriff in the jurisdiction where the deadbeat lives.

Regarding which Sheriff serves the papers, you might want to call both Sheriff's offices and get their take. Generally the Sheriff who is likely to be the one present when the person is removed and the locks are changed should be the one to serve the Summons and Complaint. Sending a Sheriff to the guy's place of work certainly has its appeal. It might be enough to get him to skedaddle without finishing out the process.

However, if you want him gone despite having paid in full, you will have to evict for "no cause."

Lesson learned: if they don't cough up EVERYTHING due as far as security deposit and rent, no keys. Don't even let them put a box of stuff in the place until or unless everything is paid.

[jasonvermont]

FrugalYankee, Thanks much for info that's just what I needed. Unfortunately I don't have time to make the 2hr drive to the court today. Hopefully Monday will be the day. The main reason for serving him at work is that we know when hes there as each trip for the Sheriff is another fee for me if he is missed. Thankfully today being the 14th day he has not paid the remainder of the Sec. Dep. as stipulated in the 14 day notice so I wont have to go the no cause route. Anyhow thanks again now I have what I need to get it typed up and ready for Monday and I am starting to see why so many of my past landlords were always grumpy

[FrugalYankee]

Hope it works out for you.

Some of these slimeball tenants are skilled at hiding so you can get what is called a "tack order" which means it is considered served if the sheriff tacks it to the door. Unfortunately in order to get a tack order, there have to have been unsuccessful attempts by the sheriff to serve the papers in person.

Sheriffs don't want to waste their time driving around for nothing and are very helpful. Any information you can give them about make and color of car, license plate etc, and where and when they hang out will help them nail them.

Good luck!

[Fostersrentals]

My tenant owes me $3000.00 in rent. He has been giving me all of the excuses in the book and I have been more than lenient. He has 4 kids and is a disabled vet, so he claims. When he moved in, he and his wife passed all background checks that I did. Now, he has divorced his wife and is in school and has a girlfriend who doesn't work in the house with him. He does pay heat and water, but I am really strapped for funds and would like to see some rent being paid.

I am not a slimeball landlord and these people live in a really nice house with garage etc. Everyone suffers here in the Northeast Kingdom but this is ridiculous. He gets angry at me when I suggest that he pay me rent. I own the house, I pay insurance and yet I can't evict him????

Please help.

[FrugalYankee]

What's stopping you from evicting him?

Send him the notice to quit and get your legal paperwork ready so you can be at the courthouse when it opens bright and early. It's people like that who deserve to have the sheriff toss them out on their ear Christmas day.

[jasonvermont]

I will be going to Orleans County Court Thursday morn I will post a quick reply about how long it took etc.

[jasonvermont]

Not the best news I was told in addition to my motion for ejection I would also need to file a "complaint" which they had no forms for. The fee was also 265.00!! So add that to the Sheriff fees and it's over 300.00. Does anyone have a blank complaint template or form I could copy the outline from?

[FrugalYankee]

Jason

There is no form.

The best I can offer is to suggest you take a look at this post.

//www.city-data.com/forum/vermo...l#post19480449

Please be aware that I am not an attorney.

Yeah it is expensive for a landlord in VT to get rid of a deadbeat. Plus is usually takes two months minimum, which is why you have to insist they pay two month's security deposit (NOT security deposit plus last month's rent, two months security deposit).

Also you should have in your lease that the security deposit can be applied to recover reasonable legal fees, otherwise the deadbeats will get some bleeding heart LegalAid lawyer (for free ) to hound you if you use the scurity deposit to pay for the cost of evicting. That is, assuming there is anything left over.

[OutOfStateLandlord]

So I sent out the notice to pay or quit (today completes 14 days from when it was delivered - according to USPS tracking)

I'm planning to go to the superior court tomorrow to file the complaint. One thing that is confusing me - should I be filing a small claims complaint (form the amount owed - 3500 as of today) or do I have to file some other kind of complaint. Also can the summons be filed along with the complaint on the same day? I'm actually driving up (3 hr drive) to do the same so would like to be a little prepared. This site says that small claims can be used for "If you need to collect past due rent from a tenant". Will I be able to evict the tenants (get possession of my property) at the end of the case if I file a small claims complaint?
https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/GTC...%20Booklet.pdf

Thanks in advance!