Tenant has not responded and sister is living in the house

[Julie Clark]

Hello,

Looking for help for my current situation. 

I have a single tenant, male, who has already needed the lease changed due to his girlfriend leaving. I was hesitant to allow him to stay but based on my lease terms he had not violated the lease so I wrote an addendum for him to stay.

The original lease and well as the addendum (both signed by him) states that only the listed occupants can reside in the house and anyone residing in the house not listed will need to vacate the premises / if they do not there will be cause for eviction.

As his girlfriend was leaving she let me know that he was letting his sister move in. I took this with a grain of salt as they ended on bad terms but noted it. 

Due to all of the changes with the addendum I informed the current tenant that I will be doing a walkthrough today 10/25. I sent this information to him Monday morning 10/23 via text as well as via email. I received no response from either contact. I last heard from him on 10/13 which was him asking if i received the signed copy of the addendum from him.

My sister lives near by and has let me know she has not seen him lately but does continue to see and woman and her child at the property. Per the addendum there should only be the sole tenant who is a male residing at the property. 

I did reach out to the local magistrate to find out what to do at this point and she said if my lease states no one else can live there then I do have the right to begin the eviction process. 

My questions are this:

1) I will be letting the sister know today that she has 24 hours to vacate the premises. But, if she does vacate I cannot then begin the eviction process unless the actual tenant also stops paying rent? (The next rent is due 11/15). 

2) If the actual tenant does not pay rent am I able to keep the security deposit to cover a month of rent to allow me to look for a new tenant (yes it is written in the lease for an early termination fee)

3) If she does not vacate the premises in the 24 hours provided do I call the police to ask them to notify her to leave as she is now trespassing?  Or do I then begin the eviction process?

4) The actual tenant has not responded to me since 10/13 and I do not have any forwarding address information. If I do begin the ecivtion process how do I go about that with out any information for him? ( I do have a copy of his license from his application but do not know if that is where he would have returned to).

[Patricia Steiner]

Wait...you've got this a little backwards.  First, you're not evicting the 'sister/woman/non-lease occupant.'  That's the tenant's problem.  So, let's start here:

1.  Inspection/Walk-Through. Every state has a notice requirement for landlords to enter a tenant's unit - with our without his permission - after giving the required notice. In my state, it is 72 hours. Text is not an appropriate vehicle should it go to court so if you text notice, then also email it/mail it or post a notice on the door.  Then after the notice period has passed, you can enter the property to inspect.  I recommend taking someone with you as a witness - and videotaping the walk-through.  Document your findings.

2.  Check your lease regarding "Guests."  Most leases restrict guest stays after 5 or 7 days.  If you don't have a provision (which you should in the future) then you can proceed without allowing this be a claim by the tenant.

3.  Send (by overnight mail with proof of delivery required) a Notice To Quit for Lease Violation.  It provides a 'cure period' in which he will need to have the person not on the lease vacate or that you will proceed with eviction against HIM as the tenant.  You can also email him this notice but you'll need to have the signed receipt/or proof of delivery should you move forward with eviction.

Also, you don't wait for the tenant to respond...no response is a response. He's blowing you off.  It's your ball, your court. Take back control and manage to the contract and state law. You have to know the Landlord/Tenant Laws for your state as well as your contract.  Please send the Notice to Quit TODAY.  And, if he doesn't pay the rent, most states allow the security deposit to be used for non-payment of rent plus damages. Again, check your state law (it's as easy as googling 'can the security deposit in (state) be used for non-payment of rent)."  

Hope this helps.