So, my sister is renting her house to some people and they sent her an email today saying they weren't going to pay the rent anymore and they are moving out in a month. What are her options? Take the hit and call it a day? Small claims? What?

7/26/2011 7:51:14 PM

Is there a lease?

7/26/2011 7:52:08 PM

tell her not to drag it out, rerent it as soon as possible and fight the legal claims after that is all figured out

no use fighting to keep douchebags in her rental and it'll look good to mitigate her damages

7/26/2011 8:08:53 PM

I assume there is a lease, otherwise this thread is really really dumb.

Google reveals that you can get a collection agency to send some letters and report the people to credit rating agencies for cheap. Actually kind of scary as it doesn't appear you need much(any?) proof that they actually owe you money.

7/26/2011 8:29:15 PM

yeah, she does has a lease. she just wants them out now if they say they aren't gonna pay rent any more. is it worth contacting a lawyer over basically one month's rent?

7/26/2011 8:48:18 PM

she's only out of money if she can't rerent it in one month right? tell her to keep time records of all efforts to rerent

also look for a clause in the lease about what happens in a default, let her know to let them know that she is NOT letting them out of their obligations of the lease and she's doing them a favor making sure they don't owe more by rerenting as soon as possible but they'll still be liable if she can't rerent or it takes longer than a month

7/26/2011 8:53:41 PM

^great advice

7/26/2011 9:10:26 PM

^^ That's all fine and dandy, but they've said they are staying in the house for 30 days. She can't rerent if all their shit and persons are still inside the building.

If she really wanted to go to the extreme, she could get the sheriff to evict them depending on what state this is in.

7/26/2011 9:31:20 PM

Can't you file this against there credit score?

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 9:52 PM. Reason : ]

7/26/2011 9:40:34 PM

^ Yes, by sending it to collections.

7/26/2011 10:05:54 PM

She can still post the house and show it until they move out. If she still can't rent it after they leave they should still be legally obligated to pay rent until the lease ends.

I was the renter in a similar situation except I wasn't a douche and agreed to pay the rent if they didn't get it rented out.

7/26/2011 10:21:12 PM

I'm pretty sure the eviction laws in NC will give them 30 days to vacate.

7/26/2011 11:03:53 PM

it's in SC. i told her to look at the lease and see what it said. this is why I am fearful of renting my house assuming a move with a new job offer

7/26/2011 11:13:44 PM

they can't tell her they are leaving AND they want to prevent her from showing it. remind them that there would be no need to show the house if they knew how to keep a contract. of course the law doesn't force people into contracts but it does provide that they accept the consequences of them. as long as she shows it at reasonable times with reasonable notice (check local rental procedures) they don't have a leg to stand on.

just like you're posting on a message board asking for what is clearly not legal advice, there's a cheap and quick way to make this as painless as possible for everyone (as painless as possible, not painless) and there's the expensive "get the law involved" way, ball's in their court now

once i called my landlord up and said "hey id really like to move out as soon as possible but i don't want to screw you over so if you wouldn't mind starting some showing i'll of course pay up until i need". he had a new tenant a week later and he gave me my entire deposit back even though he probably could have asked for some compensation.

7/27/2011 12:53:09 AM

Quote :

"yeah, she does has a lease. "

i hope her lease is better than your english.

7/27/2011 2:56:30 AM

Why is it every renting thread on tww goes to shit with anecdotal reasoning and opinions?


1) Have your sister ask the tenants to place their intentions in writing. They can refuse, and that's fine, but typical leases require the notice of vacancy to be in writing, even at lease end.

2) She would do well to read the SC equivalent of NC's landlord Tenant act. Looks like it might be title 27, section 40, but that's just a quick search.

3) Whats the remainder on the lease? If I understand your 2nd post, they have 60 days left, and they're moving out in 30? Depends on the rental amount of course, but typically a lawyer's retainer is going to be more than what you'll actually recover in court.

4) Your sister can't proactively evict someone, especially over an unprove-able phone conversation...they've paid for the rights to the property, and most states still provide tenants with a window to pay late (albeit with a penalty, but I digress). It sucks, but that's the way of the eviction process in NC, and my guess is SC procedure doesn't have their shit together anymore than NC procedures do.

5) Typical leases reserve the landlord's right to conduct inspections and property showings with advance notice (usually 24+ hours). If she has this right to show, she can of course exercise it.

Synopsis:
Really at this point, your sister should be gathering information in writing if she intends to pursue this in small claims.
Realistically, she's better off a)acknowledging the intention to abandon phone call in writing to her tenants; b)in the same letter, informing them of her intention to rent to new tenants at lease end and c)eating that potential month of vacancy. She'll have better results spending her time looking for her next tenant than planning her revenge.



[Edited on July 27, 2011 at 1:06 PM. Reason : acknowledgement: ThatGoodLock has made good points itt]

7/27/2011 1:04:53 PM

^you really missed the boat....please reread...

Quote :

"So, my sister is renting her house to some people and they sent her an email today saying they weren't going to pay the rent anymore and they are moving out in a month. What are her options? Take the hit and call it a day? Small claims? What?"

[Edited on July 31, 2011 at 2:19 AM. Reason : w]

7/31/2011 2:19:09 AM

if the AC broke, in many states thats not required for a place to be habitable..

8/1/2011 7:53:27 AM

dudes are being real douches. she gave them a letter that basically said "yo aren't paying rent. we are taking this to the magistrate. when can we come over to check out the place to see what we need to get it back on the market?" and the douches said "don't be mean and rude to us. we'll stay here as long as we want. and we won't pay any rent. it'll take you months to get us evicted"

fucking assholes.

8/10/2011 7:12:09 PM

Wait.... so what is the reason they just stopped paying rent before moving out? Just because?

8/10/2011 7:55:40 PM

basically just because is all we can tell. They are trying to now say that everything is broken, but they never told her about any of it. literally. no phone calls, no emails, no letters. nothing.

8/10/2011 8:02:32 PM

You could always use the powers of tdub against them

8/10/2011 9:47:12 PM

Sounds like she needs to lawyer up... Even if they claimed everything was broken, they would have to at least provide a certain amount of time for her to fix it (which I'm sure you know)

But if they're being assholes like this I highly doubt they'll be willing to just talk it out

8/10/2011 10:21:29 PM

It won't take her months to evict them. Its not a crime to say "We aren't Paying" they have to be late of behind on payment before any law is broken. Even if they are one month behind you can't evict them over that. Be nice to them try to get them out ASAP and then take them to collection's.

8/14/2011 1:31:34 AM

^

noone said anything about a crime, this is a contract dispute
if a party to the contract flat out says "i will not abide by our contract terms" or similar then that's actionable immediately

8/14/2011 10:47:13 AM

As a landlord with multiple properties, if they are basically shorting you one month's rent, you're best just to keep their security deposit (hopefully your sister had 1 month of deposit) and let them leave on good terms so they don't ruin stuff. From what I read, you are only going to miss out on one month's rent. That is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

However, it should take about 30 days to get them evicted, not months. You just have to file the right paperwork.

After they leave, you can file with a collection agency, which I recommend you do. But I wouldnt go advertising this fact until after they get out. Basically, be very nice to them, then once they are out the door and the locks are changed, stick it to them. Looks like you probably already fucked that up, so they probably went from feeling bad about shorting you to being angry and vindictive. Let this be a lesson for you next time.

8/14/2011 11:19:15 AM

^be glad you do not have properties in NY....you rent to a woman with a kid, and you basically have to pay her to get out of the house (had a friend that had to do this)....she had a lady live at one of her properties rent free for several months because NY has some sort of law that says you cannot kick out a woman with a kid if they have no place to go. She ended up paying her to leave after she had spent a good amount through the courts.

8/16/2011 6:08:40 PM

well, the $40 eviction notice at least got them out. but, they are gonna "counter sue". this ought to be good.

8/16/2011 7:40:44 PM

please keep us updated - even though this isn't in NC, theses threads usually have a lot of good information or give someone in a similar situation a place to start looking

good luck to your sister

8/17/2011 11:35:58 AM

aaron, its probably just hollow threat. If they didnt have the money to pay you rent, its unlikely they can afford an attorney. Just make sure you keep all your emails and communication ready, as well as write down every date/time you spoke with them and the context of the conversations.

Tell your sister she needs to go ahead and file collections against them as well for the lost rent, if she had any after the deposit.

[Edited on August 17, 2011 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

8/17/2011 11:42:25 AM

This is an awesome way to get out of a lease!

Bait them into evicting you, leave the second you get your first notice, and then go back later and pay whatever rent you were withholding in order to get evicted.

[Edited on August 17, 2011 at 2:05 PM. Reason : Brilliant!]

8/17/2011 2:03:40 PM

^^ actually, they had the money to pay the rent, ostensibly, as they stopped the automatic draft to my sister to change it to their new place. or so they say

8/19/2011 7:36:33 AM

^^ Probably not as good of an idea if you're ever going to need your former rental to vouch for you in any capacity

8/19/2011 9:14:34 AM

yeah, they played it smooth. asked for a reference letter for buying a car three months ago. then used that reference letter to get their new joint right before telling my sister to fuck off. classy, aint it? she's gonna get their new address, though, and let the landlord know about this shady shit

8/19/2011 8:34:13 PM

A reference letter for buying a car? I've never heard of such a thing. Do they have shitty credit?

8/20/2011 2:25:24 PM

I'm pretty sure he implied they were lying about that.

8/20/2011 5:42:46 PM

But I mean, if someone came up to you and said, "Yo dawg, I need a reference letter to buy a car," wouldn't you find that really strange? Wouldn't you want to call up the dealership and ask wtf was going on? And wouldn't you write the letter to include something like, "I think they can make their monthly car payments," which the other rental property would go, "wtf is this person talking about?" and find off as well?

Maybe I'm just the sort of person who doesn't trust people

8/21/2011 8:51:03 AM

North Carolina requires a sumery eviction notice be served for kicking someone out who is renting. The sumery eviction has to give 30 days notice before they are kicked out. If I was her, I would file the notice because it is no guarantee they will leave at the end of the month.

8/22/2011 5:53:25 PM

My vote goes to stealing the rims off their cars and selling them to recoup the money.

8/23/2011 3:32:37 PM

^^
SUMMARY

8/23/2011 3:45:23 PM

Quote :

"it's in SC. i told her to look at the lease and see what it said. this is why I am fearful of renting my house assuming a move with a new job offer"

You're fearful of renting it because of the chance the renters can move out and stop paying rent after stiffing you for a months rent, after you've already probably collected a month's rent deposit?

I would worry about bigger risks.

8/23/2011 7:55:38 PM

Haven't read the thread, and my response is based on a contract law class, that may or may not have much bearing on how the world actually works.

But, from what I studied, people are obligated to try to mitigate the damage done from a contract being broken. There is nothing criminal about breaking a contract, its just a financial matter. If she makes every effort to re-rent, then any lost months of rent that the tenants were supposed to pay could be won in court.

Although you have to look at legal costs since both sides generally pay their own costs (unlike other systems like the British where its loser pays all), so if the about of money she'd get doesn't exceed the legal fees by a good clip, then its just not worthwhile and she should move on.

Again, all that is coming from a place of what a lawyer taught the class who does teaching this one class on the side once a semester, so I don't know how much of it is real world and how much is academic. And we didn't really go into tenant/landlord law and relationships, so that could be a whole different animal. But I've shared the extent of my knowledge. Good luck to her!

[Edited on August 23, 2011 at 10:17 PM. Reason : .]

8/23/2011 10:17:22 PM