Lease expired and tenant isn't leaving. What can I do?

[Jim Garrett]

I'm lucky.  I've been an investor for 4 years in AZ, have 12 units and just now am having my first bad tenant experience.  This tenant was consistently late with rent, but had made good faith efforts and stayed in communication so I granted a month-to-month extension of the lease in September.  She has since fallen more than 2 months behind so I gave her notice on 12/1 that I would be terminating the lease effective 12/31.  She made a payment toward November rent on 12/31, but has since gone silent, not responding to calls, emails or texts and now today her phone has a recorded message saying it's out of service.  I went to the apartment on 1/8 and could tell she was there, but she wouldn't answer the door.  I posted on her door the required 5 day notice to pay rent, make arrangements or vacate and documented it with a photo, which I texted and emailed to her.  What are my options now?  Since her lease is expired, can I just change the locks after 5 days and move her stuff out or do I still have to go through the eviction process in court?  Any advice is greatly appreciated! 

Jim

[Matt Devincenzo]

No, you're now evicting the tenant. So you will follow local laws on notices ets, and eventually file for 'unlawful detainer' in court. Assuming you have to follow through the entire process the judge will award you possession at some point. Then it will depend on how it is addressed locally but often the Sheriff will meet you there and their private possessions will be removed from the property and set at the curb. Then you can change the locks and will have taken possession of the property back.

[Ron Brady]

@Jim Garrett Not sure how this works in Arizona, but in NJ, were we in your shoes, we'd retain an attorney experienced in evictions and start the process with him/her, taking notes along the way.  We'd take notes so that we can decide if we want to do our next eviction ourselves or stick with having an attorney do it for us.  We see evictions as part of being landlords and thus a skill we'd seek to learn from someone with the requisite experience and knowledge.  Best wishes to you.

[Chad McMahan]

Originally posted by @Jim Garrett:

I'm lucky.  I've been an investor for 4 years in AZ, have 12 units and just now am having my first bad tenant experience.  This tenant was consistently late with rent, but had made good faith efforts and stayed in communication so I granted a month-to-month extension of the lease in September.  She has since fallen more than 2 months behind so I gave her notice on 12/1 that I would be terminating the lease effective 12/31.  She made a payment toward November rent on 12/31, but has since gone silent, not responding to calls, emails or texts and now today her phone has a recorded message saying it's out of service.  I went to the apartment on 1/8 and could tell she was there, but she wouldn't answer the door.  I posted on her door the required 5 day notice to pay rent, make arrangements or vacate and documented it with a photo, which I texted and emailed to her.  What are my options now?  Since her lease is expired, can I just change the locks after 5 days and move her stuff out or do I still have to go through the eviction process in court?  Any advice is greatly appreciated! 

Jim

 Hi Jim.

It's unpleasant, but this happens. DO THINGS BY THE BOOK. Do not change locks or do anything else like that. I recommend you hire an eviction service and have them do this for you. Learn from them, throughout the process, so you know how to do it next time. Hire them quickly and get the balls rolling.

[Scott M.]

You can ask her to leave.  You can offer her cash to leave.  You can evict her.  I don't of any state that allows you to change the locks.  Given that comment if I were in your shoes I would hire a landlord tenant lawyer that specializes in evictions. Learn the process from them so you better understand it for the future.  

[Doug McVinua]

@Jim Garrett You have a holdover tenant occupying the property. I would contact an eviction attorney and start eviction immediately. You could also serve them with a 5-Day Notice to vacate immediately via Certified Mail or hand-delivered and signed for to get the timeline started. I had one in Apache Junction, AZ a few months ago and we had them out in about 3 weeks.

[Jim Garrett]

Thanks all for your replies.  I've engaged a RE lawyer with eviction experience to start the process.  I've already given her the 5 day notice so the ball is already rolling.  Thanks!  

[Susan Thelen]

For ARIZONA: A tenant may be evicted for not paying rent. If a landlord wishes to evict a tenant for not paying rent that the tenant owes, the landlord must give the tenant written notice specifying that the tenant has five days to pay the rent or eviction proceedings will begin (A.R.S. § 33-1368(B)).

If you send me a message I can send you a link to a website that goes over the process.