I need help determining what my options are with dealing with a problem tenet. I ran the tenet through Zillow, everything looked great, 4x the rent, 780 credit score, veteran, single mother with two kids. Had no issues until it was time for the first full months rent. (They had a prorated amount for November, first full month December) They were late on the rent and after the 3 day grace period still had not paid it and would not respond. I went to the house to serve a pay or quit notice and someone answered the door who was smoking weed. We have a strict no smoking policy. Then I asked him if he lived there and he said yes. No other person is on the lease other than her. So I asked to come in and he allowed me to. After looking around a bit he also had animals in the house which were not authorized. He said he paid the person I signed the lease with 5000 dollars to live there when I only charged her 2350. The guy told me he was renting the property from her and she told him she was the owner. Then she tried to threaten me with harassment, say she can have whoever she wants and the house and that her and her kids no longer feel comfortable living there. (Which they are not living there). The only person living there is this guy and his two kids. I gave her the run down of the lease and said I would allow her to break the lease as long as she follows the terms of the lease and she won’t respond. It’s been 5 days since the pay or quit and I will be filing for eviction. It says in my lease tenet is required to pay reasonable amount for attorney fees and that she will have to pay an accelerated amount for the remainder of the lease. Are this things typically granted in court? What are my options to get my house back in my possession as quickly/cheaply as possible? Has anyone had a similar experience? This is only my second property and I’m active duty navy (E-4) on a single income with a pregnant wife and two kids. So this has been a real punch in the gut. Figured I’d just chalk it up to my first test to see if I’m committed to building generational wealth. Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Norfolk, Virginia

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