Dealing with dirtbag tenets. Part 2.

[Dinner]

He hasn't given me an address or anything and since he is cronicly broke and behind on every bill I doubt he has the cash to pay a retainer to a lawyer. My honest guess is he's just blowing smoke out of his ass in an attempt to sound big. These sort of cases often boil down to he said, she said cases or else the landlord has been through the process before and thus has everything lined up. Either way most lawyers know there isn't much money even if he should win the case so I'd guess they'd demand money up front. Which he doesn't have.

What little money he does have he will need to pay the rent and deposit on a new place. He gets to now choose between having a place to live or paying for a losing lawsuit against me.

Either way I win.

[Lancer]

He has a room? Is your stuff safe? Can you cut power to the room or lock up the bathroom while he's there? How about getting in his face?

[Tuberski]

You would come off a lot better in the e-mails if you called him a tenant and not a tenet.

ACK!

[Dinner]

I lock to door to my room but that still leaves all of the common areas which mainly have my stuff. Legally, he's paid up through the end of the month so I can't do anything until the end of the month. My big worry was this ****bag kept saying he was going to stay for a week or more beyond his 30 days and just not pay me rent. **** that. I'm going to be very much in his face and very much telling him to get the hell out that he is not wanted here.

[Lancer]

Physical threats work once but after that he may try to record any conversations.

I had an apartment rented out for which the breaker box was in my apartment. I had a tenant that when he was late on the rent I'd shut off the power. Then I'd switch it back on for a while in case he complained to someone.

Trouble with having tenants is exactly what Dis said, people generally suck and besides that the laws are there to protect THEM. That's why I sold the place.

I heard in Texas if the tenant doesn't pay the landlord can remove their front door, kind of interesting. Of course that wouldn't help in your situation.

Look for your next tenant around your workplace that way you can find out about them ahead of time. You'll end up with some family guy whose wife booted him for messing around.

[SlowwHand]

I'm not sure on that one, but a landlord would be an idiot to do that.

[:) Smiley]

say, you ought to do James' employer a favor and give him a heads up on the situation... I sure as hell wouldn't want someone like that guarding my property.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
I'm not sure on that one, but a landlord would be an idiot to do that.

Someone is living in an apartment and not paying rent, that's stealing. Apartments are bought or built to bring in income. A landlord hold up his end by providing a place...

I might have put one guy up against a wall that was ripping me off and thumbing his nose and laughing after which he might have left that day without further problem.

[Skanky Burns]

Only if you can't garnish his wages. First priority has to be getting money owed to you back. Second is to screw him over.

[snoopy369]

At least in civilized places, IE Chicago, evictions must go through the court system before ANY elements of eviction may be started - ie, cutting utilities, locking doors/changing locks, etc. It is illegal and unethical to cut power to a tenant for any reason without eviction proceedings in a court ...

Oerdin, sounds like you're doing it the right way. I strongly suggest presuming he has a lawyer and cooperating fully on the handing over of documents and such; that will look MUCH better in court than if you resist, even resist doing things you probably shouldn't have to do.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Smiley
say, you ought to do James' employer a favor and give him a heads up on the situation... I sure as hell wouldn't want someone like that guarding my property.

That's not a good idea. That might constitute harassment ... even though it sounds 'nice', taking someone's personal business and discussing it with others is generally discouraged, and in the legal sense trying to collect on debts through pressure on others is in many cases illegal (Depending on the situation) and looks bad in any event if it goes to court.

[Donegeal]

I'm with Snoop on this. I have a duplex and a house I rent out. But those are different situations. As you are living with him. Just make sure to make things miserable for him while he is there. Don't threaten violence. Play loud music when he's sleeping (like early in the morning), everytime you see him ask him about back payments. Cancel the cable tv.

[Wezil]

According to your description of the arrangement James wouldn't even be a 'tenant' in this province. Legally he would be a roomer or boarder.

You would not have this problem here - his butt would be out the door with virtually no notice.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Tuberski
You would come off a lot better in the e-mails if you called him a tenant and not a tenet.

ACK!

Yeah, I thought you were going to be picking on the old CIA director. I was gonna say, "geez, give it a rest already!"

[Tattila the Hun]

"all my ducks are in a row"

Aren't those noisy? Can't imagine anyone wanting to rent a room there, even if the ducks are neatly arranged.