Evict or wait until lease expires?

[Paul Evans Jr]

I have a tenant that is refusing to pay the last two months of rent. She claims it was paid up front (it wasn’t). We’ve given a 3-day notice to pay or quit and she hasn’t paid, which means we can now start the eviction process. However, her lease expires on July 31 and obviously we won’t be renewing. Is it even worth it to do an eviction at this point? Or do we just cut our losses and keep her deposit?

P.S. For those wondering, the 3-day notice took longer than anticipated as we are out of town and the tenant refused to accept the certified mail we sent. We had to travel to the unit and post the notice instead.

[Melanie P.]

Absolutely, 100% continue the eviction process. File and serve ASAP (hire a process server to file your paperwork over the counter and take it directly from the court to the tenant that same day).

First, Nick is likely correct that the tenant is not paying because they have no money to pay. In which case, they are not going to move into the street voluntarily when their lease expires. You don't want to be starting this process over on August 1.

Second, the New Mexico court will award you monetary damages for your unpaid rents, court costs, etc. You can file a Writ of Garnishment to seize their wages and bank accounts. Hopefully you have kept track of where they work and bank. 

Try to get this done today. Good luck.