Hi, My name is Lee Ann and I live in Memphis, Tn. In August 2005 I bought a historic building that contains 4 apartments. I live in one of the apartments downstairs and rent out the other three. There was one tenant when I moved in, Tenant in Unit #4, we will call him James. James and I had a bit of a personality clash from the start, but I was at least glad to have a tenant paying rent at first. The problems have only gotten worse. His lease expired a few months ago, I told him then he would be on month-to-month until I had the time to draft a new lease. Under his old lease he paid very little in rent (about 1/3 of what the other 2 new tenants pay). January 2nd I presented him with a new lease, that contained a much more reasonable rental rate that reflects the current market. He said that new rate was ricidilious, I told him to think it over and let me know by the end of the month what his decision was. He was very adamant from the beginning he wanted to say forever at the rate he was paying, (not surprising since he is paying a 1/3 of the going market rate). The tenant below him informed me this evening his ceiling has been leaking when James takes a shower. I went up there tonight to check it out (James was at work) and there is a HOLE IN THE FLOOR next to the shower where it has ROTTED from where he has been letting the water flow when he showers. (Keep in mind it was not like this when I bought the house a few months before! )
I have read the laws, but am still not sure, How soon can I get him out before more damge is done and the whole bathroom floor rots and falls in?:confused: Basically I would like him out but the end of this month, is this legal considering the dangerous situation?
P.S. He is a bit of a bully, my mother (she helps me manage my property) is worried he will act out violently or due further damage to the property. The past three weeks there have been other questionable damages (I think he might be doing them on purpose) that have been escalating in nature.:eek:

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Originally Posted by LeeAnnMemphis

Hi, My name is Lee Ann and I live in Memphis, Tn. In August 2005 I bought a historic building that contains 4 apartments. I live in one of the apartments downstairs and rent out the other three. There was one tenant when I moved in, Tenant in Unit #4, we will call him James. James and I had a bit of a personality clash from the start, but I was at least glad to have a tenant paying rent at first. The problems have only gotten worse. His lease expired a few months ago, I told him then he would be on month-to-month until I had the time to draft a new lease. Under his old lease he paid very little in rent (about 1/3 of what the other 2 new tenants pay). January 2nd I presented him with a new lease, that contained a much more reasonable rental rate that reflects the current market. He said that new rate was ricidilious, I told him to think it over and let me know by the end of the month what his decision was. He was very adamant from the beginning he wanted to say forever at the rate he was paying, (not suprising since he is paying a 1/3 of the going market rate). The tenant below him informed me this evening his ceiling has been leaking when James takes a shower. I went up there tonight to check it out (James was at work) and there is a HOLE IN THE FLOOR next to the shower where it has ROTTED from where he has been letting the water flow when he showers. (Keep in mind it was not like this when I bought the house a few months before!!)
I have read the laws, but am still not sure, How soon can I get him out before more damge is done and the whole bathroom floor rots and falls in?:confused: Basically I would like him out but the end of this month, is this legal considering the dangerous situation?
P.S. He is a bit of a bully, my mother (she helps me manage my property) is worried he will act out violently or due further damage to the property. The past three weeks there have been other questionable damages (I think he might be doing them on purpose) that have been escalating in nature.:eek:

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You will have to give him notice, then if he does not move go to court to get an eviction if he does not move out. Since you went month to month off an old lease, You should check with the court as to the amount of notice they require to be given, Here I have to give them a 30 day notice prior to filing with court, it takes court 7 business names to have a trial date and about 3 days to get them out after that if it goes that far.

You should make it clear to him that he is going to be responsible for damage to the apartment, I would get an estimate NOW for the damage, present him with the bill for it. I would also get the work started now also. ( having the apartment torn up and under construction may make it easier to get him out)

In the end you should never had let him stay after the lease without a lease, Never rent without written paper work. When he did not sign that was when notice should have been given.

I am not familiar with Tennessee Rent Laws so I won't advise you on the specifics.

That being said, I do have some advice/comments for you.


First, the fact that he's starting to damage your property is a serious concern for you. I hope you have insurance. And you need to contact a lawyer and get some advice because this sounds like it is going to get very messy very fast.

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Originally Posted by LeeAnnMemphis

His lease expired a few months ago, I told him then he would be on month-to-month until I had the time to draft a new lease.

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It took you a few months to get him a new lease because you didn't have the time?? Never let it go that long again. Not having the time to deal with the basic contracts with you tenants should never occur again.

Not to sure about how it works in Ten. but if you present him with a written terms for month/month rental you also spell out the amount of rent he has to pay every month which is typically higher than a lease may allow for.Whether he signs or not, I do believe he is bound by this with failure to meet your terms ending in eviction,which requires a 30 day notice.You can check with the clerk in your city as to filing procedure, but a lawyer would be the best way to go.My grandfather , may god rest his soul, always did his own court filing when he had to evict tennants but I highly recommend a good attorney. Good luck.:cool:

Well, I did find in TN it is 14 days after I give him "notice". So that means I give him something in Writing that says I would like him to leave? I know I sound like the biggest dummy. I thought that if I gave him a new lease and told him he had o sign it by the end of January (30 days) to make his decision on staying and returning a signed lease or moving, that was his notice.
As for the insurance comment, what exactly do you mean? When I bought the house I was required to have insurance, I got a State Farm policy. They will recover repairs? I also have an American Home Shield "warranty" but so far they have proved totally worthless.
His former lease stated:
Tenant's Hold Over- If Tenant remains in possession of the Premises with the consent of the Landlord after the natural expiration of this Agreement, a new tenacy from month-to-month shall be created between Landlord and Tenant which shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions hereof except that such tenancy shall be terminable upon thirty days written notice by either party.
I was under the impression that because of that, he did have written paper work.
I know I probably should have gotten rid of him earlier, but I had to totally gut and remodel two apartment units and then find new tenants. I wanted to keep the little bit of income I was getting since I was spending Soooo much money on renovations. I wanted him to pay more money or move out as soon as the other units were occupied, so I waited until they were finished to give him a new lease.
Thanks so much for your advice, I am young and learning!

Can my mother do the court filing to evict tenants? She is retired and helps me out with rentals. Being tax season, there is no way I can get off work right now.

My insurance comment.

All I meant was that you have to fix this hole, plus any other damage he has made. And if you can't recover the money from him, it will be out of your pocket. So having insurance in this case would be benefitial to you.

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Originally Posted by LeeAnnMemphis

Can my mother do the court filing to evict tenants? She is retired and helps me out with rentals. Being tax season, there is no way I can get off work right now.

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She can act as your agent ( they may require it in writing, i.e. a power of attorney to act on your behalf) here in our little county most likely not, but I find larger cities and courts are more strict at times, here everyone really knows everyone else by name.

Most of the people you evict, the court already knows them from evicting them somewhere else before.

Got to love those towns of less than 5000 people.

I have to evict people out of my rental property here more often than I like, as I said I am in TN also. Normally as soon as I give them official notice ( normally registered mail, or official service with a process company) I can count on additional damage to the property. Holes in the walls, broken windows, scratched floors. ( I went to hard wood) if you own a sander it is cheaper to sand, and re-varnish cheaply than it is to clean and;or replace carpet. ** just a though, you may want to look into it ifyou have a lot of turn over. My rug problem is a lot, I don't allow pets, so guess what, I end up with pets and they ruin flours badly took me two month to get rid finally of one that had 5 pit bulls in house, when they moved the left one pinned in the back yard.

Of course If I did not try and "help" people, that church thing you know, help them find a job, set them up with a place to stay. I work with a much lower grade of tennants than most do.

Fourteen Day Notice Terminating Tenancy
You are hereby notified, in any event, that your tenancy is hereby terminated as of January 25th, 2006.
You are hereby requested to quit, vacate, and deliver possession therefore to the undersigned on or before February 8th, 2006.
This notice to vacate is due to your following breach of tenancy:

Should you fail, refuse or neglect to cure the breach, or vacate said premises within 14 days of this notice, I will take such legal action as the law requires to evict you from the premises. You are to further understand that we shall in all instances hold you responsible for all present and future rents due under the tenancy agreement.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Any monies tendered by the tenant and accepted by the Landlord after the receipt of this notice, will be accepted for the use and occupancy only and not as rent and without in any way waiving any rights under this notice to to quit and termination notice. The landlord reserves the right to accept such monies without establishing any new tenancy. You will in any event be responsible for the use and occupancy charges for the time you occupy the premises.
Notice is further given that failure to respond to this notice on or before the date specified in the above paragraph, shall result in due process of the law for eviction and collection of amounts due to be commenced and for other remedies available to landlord for which you will be responsible for costs and attorney fees.


DOes that look like an OK "Notice"?

Update- I got the quote today. $1,800 for the bathroom. That does include some renovations I had already planned on- new bathroom vanity/sink, but Dang! It is still dome exspensive damage done by the Tenant. And he doesn't seem the least bit interested in moving out or finding another place to live. This shall be interesting.

Hello again, LeeAnn:

Some people go into the landlord business thinking that all they have to do is collect the rent every month. I know, I've rented from lots of those kinds of people

Nope. It's a business like any other, and indeed, is fraught with potential devastating losses. It can be profitable too, but the check just don't roll in.

Should you escape from your present situation relatively inexpensively, I hope you learn from your mistakes. In any business, if you're going to succeed, you need to become an EXPERT.

excon

Of course you can evict him, give notice, if he will not leave file in court and they will issue an order of eviction. That nice marshall comes over and watches as you have "hired" men move all of his belongings to the curb.


Rentals can over time make you money. MY last house, I have had about a year. I may finally make a little money this year.
New roof, hot water heater, new flooring ( ripped rugs out)
The last renter left and took my frig, stove, window air unit and a few pieces of furniture with them. This was after not paying me for 2 months and me having to pay the 60 bucks to file the eviction papers.

And before that two broken windows and most screens torn out.

Good luck

Yea, I know it will be work. One good thing at least is that I bought a large building w/ 4 units, and I Live in one of the units. That way I see more of what is going on, and I think it would be a lot harder for someone to bring a fridge/ oven down the stairs without me noticing. I figured at least while I was young and single and didn't need a huge house all to myself, it would be a good way to build up some money. And me, my boyfriend, and sometimes even my mom, do a good portion of the repairs/ remodels ourselves. The only problem this time is that since the floor needs to be replaced, I wanted to hire an expert. And it is the beginning of tax season, so I am busier.
I will say that the only tenant I have had problems with is one that I DIDN'T pick- he already lived here when I bought the house. The two tenants that I picked have been excellent- one is a Katrina victim from New Orleans.

I guess I could come down and just start preaching outside of his door until he gets tired of hearing me and leaves. According to members of my church that is any sermon over 20 minutes. They told me there were gong to buy me a wall clock for the back of the church so I could see the time. I wanted to hang a calender for the next week, but thought the better of it.

Let us know how this all works out.

Well, my mom called me today while I was at work and said there was a Uhaul in the driveway and he was loading his junk up. Yea! So by tomorrow I expect he will be totally out and I can see the full condition of the apartment.

Was it your threat of a Fr Chuck sermon that did it?(just kidding Chuck) good luck LeeAnn!:cool: :)

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Originally Posted by talaniman

Was it your threat of a Fr Chuck sermon that did it?(just kidding Chuck) good luck LeeAnn!:cool: :)

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Hope he only takes your stuff, my last renter moved out in the middle of the night, took my stove, frig, air conditional and even the carpet from the kitchen with them ( they sold it at a buy and trade funiture store before they left town) I got it back because I keep serial numbers on anything in my rental property, including the hot water heater.

Well, the former landlords were borderline slumlords. All the appliances were like 20+ years old when I bought the house, so I've spent alotta $$ updating the other apartments. I think he would be crazy to take any of the appliances with him.
Can't you deduct the theft of those items on your tax return? I believe you can, but I would have to look it up for sure.