Lease Ended, Tenants Won't Leave
I wanted to know if anybody has ended up in the situation I'm in, and what is the correct procedure to take:
I have tenants who have had been living in my rental property for 1 year. They have been a headache since the first month, but I thought I would stick it through and be done w/ them after their lease ended. Unfortunately, they are still in the house. The day I showed up to do the walk through inspection, they said they weren't ready and didn't know when they would be (I showed up the last day of their lease). They emailed me the month prior stating they were deducting the rental deposit from the rent (something I never agreed to) and was sending the difference in the mail. This tells me they knew they were supposed to be out. When I tried to call them more than 30 days prior, they had my number set up to be "rejected" on their phone. I sent numerous emails w/ no response. However, when they had something to tell me they would do it via email (just no response to my questions).
I did send a nonpayment letter last month before they mailed out a partial payment. I still haven't cashed their check. Even if I did cash it, it is $500 short. I didn't mail the nonpayment letter certified mail because the last 2 times I sent out certified mail to them I didn't receive the green slip back. This time I sent it email because that is the way they always contact me so I should be able to show proof they do check their email regularly. Their last day was supposed to be 9/30, I filed for eviction on 10/1. Their lease ended on 9/30. Does anybody know if I filed too soon? Do I still have to send out certified mail, etc. first, or is that irrelevant since their lease expired?
Please help!
Thanks!
