Gave tenant 4 month notice may not leave, what to do?

Question

Hi again everyone. I text my tenant today to check that we are all good for his moving out date, April 1st. He text back that he wants to "talk to me in person". He is on a month to month tenancy and I gave him the 4 month notice required by chicago law. I feel like he is going to ask for more time, which, if I take the same amount of rent, I will be in a month to month tenancy and will require another 4 month notice. I believe, that if he stays by law, it's double the rent since he is staying past his lease. I don't trust him to leave, he always pays on time but, his rent is under market by $500 and he destroyed a white oak tree I planted, I have him on video, he doesn't know I have the video. I can't have him stay because he is paying way under, he is not a good tenant, and I need to renovate the apartment to get market rate.

What to do?

Mike Kehoe · Answer

@Matt Lyons ahhh, good for you. I would have done the same thing if I was in a county that could get it done that quickly and inexpensively.

No way that timeline is happening in Cook county, which is extremely tenant friendly.

I always feel out cash for keys before proceeding with an eviction in Cook. It’s usually way less expensive and quicker.

My process depends on location. I invest in NC as well, and my first step there is the formal eviction process because it’s landlord friendly, quick and inexpensive.

Brie Schmidt · Answer

Does he have a SD and if so, have you kept it in a seperate interest bearing account and paid him the interest every year?

This happened to me last year, I had a non paying tenant, I gave him notice of non renewal, he let me show the unit and knew I leased it up.  He started ignoring my requests for a move out timeline and 3 days before he was supposed to move he told me he is staying.  I filed eviction and was in the process of getting a court date when he applied for the rent assistance program and voluntarily moved out a few months later.  I did end up collecting regular rent but if I had proceeded in court I would have gotten double.

I don't think you need to give another 4 months notice, if you want to be nice you can give him another month but be strong on filing eviction.

Matt Lyons · Answer

I am also an IL investor and went through an eviction with a tenant recently... this tenant was LITERALLY CRAZY, like truly CRAZY...I tried to evict her for being a nightmare to the city, the other tenants, the property and me...I had video and proof of her craziness and I LOST in court... Then she was late one time on rent (first time really) and I gave her a certified 5 day notice to pay full rent or I would proceed with eviction.  She then paid on the 6th day after notice and I did not accept payment... we went to court and I WON.  Judge was VERY clear: I gave proper legal notice to pay or they needed to be out, she did not pay in time so she was out, regardless of her excuses or my reasoning, we kept it fully on the facts of the eviction (she got notice to pay on time and she did not pay...period NOTHING else mattered)

So if you gave him proper notice of lease termination then he HAS TO BE OUT.  I would text back:  I gave you proper legal notice of lease termination on __________ you have acknowledged receipt of this notice (whether he signed certified letter or replied to text as long as there has been talks about this notice and him getting) and you need him to be out by April 1st. Ask him to please let you know where to send any deposit to once he has a new address (does not mean you have to send him anything, you dont know the condition yet and you may not return him anything but asking for his address gives the appearance he may get money back)... then remind him in text: if you are not out by April 1 then you will need to proceed with legal forcible eviction

In short, text him with:

I gave you legal notice as required by IL law

I need your new address to send any deposit back to within 30 days as per IL law

If you are still there on ________ I will be forced to proceed with a forcible eviction and, as per the lease, you will be responsible for my court costs

Please feel free to use me as a reference for your new landlord if needed

Keep it simple, keep it legal, keep it clean... you gave notice as required, he needs to be out, if he is not you have legal rights to get him out and recover damages he has caused...DONT engage him or have discussions or anything...the more you engage the more he has to use against YOU, right now you did the right legal thing, focus on that (dont talk about damage or tree or anything until after he is OUT and you have possession)

Mike Davis · Answer

@Mario Morales I would do a cash for keys on this all day. The majority of time this worked on my properties with problem tenants.

Mario Morales · Answer

Thank you everyone for helping me out with this. I really appreciate everyone taking a few moments to give me advise. I wish everyone the best!

Mario Morales · Answer

Thank you so much for your advise and time!

Tom O. · Answer

1. Did you take a security deposit? If the answer is yes you do NOT want to evict unless you are confident your security deposit game is perfect. In evictions the tenant rights attorneys ask prospective clients one question: did your landlord take a security deposit? If the answer is yes, they will take the case. If the answer is no, they will typically refuse to take the case.

2. I would meet with him and bring a "cash for keys" agreement. I would also bring any notices required by Chicago or Illinois for eviction to move forward (mediation thing, etc.).  But cash for keys is great because it provides the carrot and the stick. Carrot -- take my $500 and leave. Stick: eviction. If you bring both and serve the pre-eviction stuff it makes it more clear that you will evict. This is where you need to talk to your eviction attorney NOW not later after you've already screwed it up and wasted time.

3. If you don't have an attorney for your eviction I would retain this guy now to get your advice on exactly how to move forward and what notices are required, etc. But I think knowing how backed up Cook County is and how slow the process is moving (all cases go to one court like a central station) I would do anything I could to avoid eviction including cash for keys. Maybe you pay him $500 to get out. Find out what the attorney will charge and offer the tenant some amount of that. His name is Rich Magnone and he knows his stuff. This is his highly informative blog: https://www.chicagoeviction.co...

Matt Lyons · Answer

I agree that Cook County is no friend to landlords and truly should not be a place ANYONE invests in..sorry for those that have invested there!  There is a reason I went as far west as I did in IL, its the only way anything works.

Cash for keys is a route I have gone as well... to evict in the areas I am in takes $300 and wastes at least 2 hours of my time (at least usually more like 4 hours)...so offering money to get them out is a win for me, HURTS I have to admit but that is part of being a real estate investor

Matt Lyons · Answer

@Mike Kehoe gave five day notice… they did not pay within five days, filed with court on day 6… got court date one week later, they showed up by zoom and judge gave them 5 more days to come to court. Went to court, tenant lost and had to be out 10 days later. This was Whiteside county not cook

Gave tenant 4 month notice may not leave, what to do?

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