Being a landlord isn’t a walk in the park. It’s stressful. And by stressful, I mean it’s TRAUMATIC! …especially if you’ve got bad non-paying tenants in your house.
Non-paying tenants are a nightmare. But, good thing- you can get rid of them with ease.
This blog post details the top tactics you can apply to get rid of non-paying tenants in an efficient manner.
Let’s have a look.
Top Tactics to Get Rid of Non-Paying Tenants
Following are the top tactics we’ll be discussing here:
- Threaten Them with a Lawsuit
- Buy Them Out
- Look for Evidence of Illegal Activity
- Don’t Renew Their Lease
- Buy Them Out
Resolve the Matter with Your Tenants Peacefully
Okay, maybe your tenants have lost their jobs, which is why they aren’t able to pay their rents. Or maybe they are going through a financial crisis. As humans, it’s important to look into the matter from other party’s point of view.
And that’s what I’d advise you to do.
Schedule a meeting with your tenants, or maybe take them out for dinner or drinks. Have a clear conversation with them and tell them how frustrating it is when they don’t pay their rent on time.
Be calm.
Ask them the real reason behind the problem. And if the problem is actually serious, both parties may try to find a common ground to resolve the issue. You may either forget their rent or ask them to pay their rents at a later period. However, it’s important to convey the message that if they won’t be able to pay the rent anymore, then they should vacate peacefully.
Threaten Them with a Lawsuit
While eviction can be a costly process, the second approach you should try is threatening them with a lawsuit. However, make sure that the threats you make are within the legal boundaries.
All you need to do is just hire an expert attorney or just buy some of your attorney friends a few drinks and they would love nothing more than helping you out.
Ruined credit, deficiency judgments, threaten lawsuits, garnished wages.
You may send them a clear and concise message: There’ll be dire consequences if you don’t correct your lease violations or/and vacate peacefully.
Find Evidence of Illegal Activity
You can always head over to your home and find traces of illegal activity, any kind of illegal activity, if your tenants look like the ones who are involved in such things.
The best way to get rid of them is simply finding the much-needed evidence, gathering it and reporting it to the authorities.
Some areas favor tenants, but if there’s any illegal activity involved, the law will be on your side.
However, you can’t just barge in through the front door and start finding evidence.
You can schedule regular inspections, however, there’s always the chance of your tenants hiding all of it.
So, it’s important to choose the date and time and look for evidence smartly.
Don’t Renew Their Lease
Depending on the laws and terms of your lease, you can simply bid farewell to your tenants by refusing to renew their lease. At the end of the leases, there’s an option of extending it.
However, if the tenants cause real problem without even violating the lease’s terms, you are obligated to refuse to lease again.
But, if you are planning to not renew their lease, then you need to extend the non-renewal notice to your tenants. Depending on the laws in your area, it may be either month’s period or maybe two months’ or three.
Buy Them Out
If none of the above-tactics work, then the last option before you begin the eviction process is to buy them out.
What does it even mean?
The eviction process may cost you up to $5,000 and take up to 6 months. And if you aren’t ready to pay the costs, then you can consider buying them out. Offer them a certain amount of money and ask them to move out peacefully.
Yes, you’ll end up losing a few hundred dollars, but at least you’ll not have to go through the eviction process.
Define the specific terms for their move out. After all, you wouldn’t want to pay them the sum, only for them to return back to your apartment later.
Or you can sell your house with bad tenants to a home buyer like Money Team Properties, and we’ll handle all the hassle.
Conclusion
Dealing with non-paying tenants is hard. And if none of the above tactics work, we’d advise you to go with the eviction process to throw those sneaky non-paying difficult tenants out of your house.
And if you need help or advice, our experts at Money Team Properties would love assisting you. We buy houses in the Detroit area with all kinds of situations… including bad tenants (and good ones too).
So, what are you waiting for?
Get in touch today!