[zonest]

You just can't rent anything but by the week, on a "sober living" contract, really. That lets you evict them "at will" basically. You have to sell for whatever you can get and be glad to be rid of it, since you are in no position to arrange something REALLY bad to happen to the pos's. If they were w a s, they'd have moved out and into a mini-van until they arranged for something better. They are thieves, actually. They are stealing money from you, just like any other thief and really should be treated in exactly the same way, minus a hand.

[joe moving]

This sounds awful.

I'm wondering what if you rent to someone for say the ski season. Can you produce a contract through a good lawyer that would allow you to kick people out if they decided they didn't feel like leaving at the end of April? Or would you still be jumping through hoops?

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by NY Annie

This should be in the real estate/renting forum.

Your mortgage is not 2 months late due to them not paying. It is late because you did not pay your mortgage. Period. Regardless whether you have extra expenses such as: furnace goes caput, car dies, etc., you owe the mortgage. It is your responsibility. You tried to offset your expenses by renting out your home and, as you now have found out, that doesn't always work out. Find a way to pay your mortgage.

The eviction process will take time and, during that time, you will still not get paid the rental fee - if ever.

At the top of the real estate/renting forum is a sticky with the landlord-tenant statutes for the state of VT. It is essential that you follow them EXACTLY or turn the matter over to an attorney.

Should you choose to evict them yourself, first thing is to stop talking to them. Whatever needs to be said should be done via paper trail - letters, certified. All of this and what you should be saying to them is written in the statutes.

You can get a low-cost initial consultation with an attorney through the lawyer referral service in VT. It's in your phone book or you can look it up online.

Good luck. For more help from other landlords, have a moderator move this to the real estate forum.

Amen, Annie.
We all have to pay our own bills and live within our own means.

We have 2 rental properties and have not had turn-over in 5 years. We keep our rents low and respond quickly when there is a problem. It helps that we have very good homes and have them paid for, so that we can keep good tenants by keeping the rent low.
We do not charge late fees.

I think 2010 was the fist time EVER! that we got all 12 months rent after 20 years in the business. But no one has missed a payment since.

I did have a flake a few years ago wwho lied about paying and so forth. I got her out by "breaking" the air conditioner and not fixing it. I was July/August and there is no law here requiring me to fix the air conditioner..

Property ownership is not easy and most people simply can't do it. It takes a combination of tolerance, mechanical skills, time, and at first you need money.

[NY Annie]

Originally Posted by cgregor

How about having a dependent family member move in? I understand that preempts a tenant's right to remain.

You cannot move someone into an apt/house that is currently occupied.

Originally Posted by joe moving

This sounds awful.

I'm wondering what if you rent to someone for say the ski season. Can you produce a contract through a good lawyer that would allow you to kick people out if they decided they didn't feel like leaving at the end of April? Or would you still be jumping through hoops?

So you're suggesting the OP write a new rental agreement that would make it easier to evict the tenants and expect the current tenants (who are in breach of their current agreement) to sign the new one? Am I understanding what you mean?

The problem is that the current tenants have not paid rent in two months and the OP wants them out and to get his money for that time.

OP, you must follow the statutes which are found - by state - at the sticky at the top of the "real estate/renting" forum.

[joe moving]

Nah I'm not suggesting that. I'm curious for future reference.

[kotz]

My apologies to the O.P. if I gave questionable advice.

In my case it worked out for us.

We're not landlords and have zero experience in the rental field. We were trying to sell our home and did a 2yr lease to own contract. The prospective buyers were a little short on the down payment and thought this was the way to go.
As it turned out they we full of it. Didn't have 2 nickels in savings, and were in default by the 3rd month.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by joe moving

This sounds awful.

I'm wondering what if you rent to someone for say the ski season. Can you produce a contract through a good lawyer that would allow you to kick people out if they decided they didn't feel like leaving at the end of April? Or would you still be jumping through hoops?

as a ski resort rental property owner, I have over 30 years of ski season 6 month (or shorter) leases properly written.

like any other lease at the end of the term, when it expires and the tenants don't vacate at the time, it automatically rolls over to a leasehold at the time periods of the original payments. So a 6 month lease with monthly payments automatically becomes a month-to-month tenancy in most states.

the problem, however, is that most of the folk who don't leave tend to also not make the monthly payments, so I have to go through the eviction process to get possession of my property back.

So yes, if they don't leave, you as the LL are "still jumping through hoops". Despite getting evictions and judgments against these folk, I've never been able to collect a penny in the lost revenues. Deadbeats in my experience are well versed in how to hide their assets (or have none), and defraud LL's by abusing the laws that were written to protect tenant's rights.