Re: Let’s Have Fun / Landlord Stories - Posted by Edwin
Posted by Edwin on May 11, 2007 at 24:31:06:
This wasn’t a fun experience, but rather probably my worst tenant
story.
Had a tenant that had become chronically late about paying her rent. I
gave her numerous chances to straighten up, but finally I said “you
have to go.”
I filed an eviction and got a judgment. After the sheriff tossed her out,
the evicted tenant and the neighbor across the street came to me
pleading for another chance. I said “no,” but finally relented on the
condition that she voluntarily be vacated within the week. She moves
back in, and a few days later when I come to tell her to get out, she
tells me to sue her.
So I get to go through the same ugly court eviction again. She contests
it. I finally win. Sheriff tosses her out again, but she has nowhere to
go. And I’m not relishing the idea of moving all her crap out of my
house. She had every room filled with furniture and junk. She had
turned the backyard into a miniture auto junk yard, Left about 12
broken down, junk non-running vehicles. Many without wheels.
Through much coaxing and prodding, she finally got most of her stuff
out of the house. Took three flat bed trailers. She slept on the front
lawn on a mattress for about four nights. I didn’t like that a bit, but I
didn’t like the idea of moving her stuff out, either.
I got to waste several hours of my time supervising the move-out,
mostly to ensure she didn’t try to take up residence in the house again.
One afternoon I left for 45 minutes to go eat lunch. When I returned, I
see her car has four flat tires. “What happened,” I ask? Turns out her
“boyfriend” had come by, got into an argument with her, and decided it
was appropriate to slash her tires. He didn’t like me, either. Made me
really glad I didn’t happen to be there when all this happened.
She eventually got most of the house cleaned out, but I did end up
having to get rid of all the vehicles. I tried to donate them to salvage
yards if they’d pick up for free, but they all turned me down since I
didn’t have titles. To make matters worse, the code enforcement
people told me to hurry up and get rid of the cars. “And don’t just
abandon them on the street,” I was warned. Well, that’s what I ended
up doing. One by one I and a guy I hired with a truck and chain hauled
those cars off the property and as quietly as possible deposited them
on various streets surrounding the property. I hope I never have the
hear the sickening scraping sound a truck with no rear wheels makes
when it’s being dragged across pavement. The whole thing was one
royal PAIN IN THE A**!
Lessons learned: When a tenant becomes a problem, act fast to get rid
of them. Also inspect the property regularly to make sure it’s not
becoming a dumping ground for vehicles and other assorted junk.