My first eviction!!! Help ????

[Drew Denham]

Hi all, Would an experienced investor in Michigan be able to help me through the process of eviction? I read online the tenant is served a 30 day notice - what does that note include? Reason of the eviction and the date to be out by? When do I get the court involved? Do I hand deliver the note? Tape it to the door ? I'm trying to be positive about this whole situation and look at it as a learning opportunity! I've already adjusted my lease template due future tenants!! Thanks to the BP community for your help.

[Account Closed]

A Termination of Tenancy is a Legal Notice to not renew a tenants lease once it expires.  If you are on a month to month Lease Agreement, you must give the tenant a 30 day written notice and it must be sent enough days ahead of time to make the notice a full 30 day notice.  This means you cannot claim the day you mailed it as day one.  Then if you mail it you must allow two full days for mailing so you can't count day 2 or 3 in the 30 day notice.  So let's say this is December and you wanted your tenant out.  You would need to give the tenant a 30 day notice, and it must be sent  no later than December 28th in order to reach the tenant in time and still give him or her a full 30 day notice. So you wouldn't be able to get the tenant out until January 30th or 31 since January has 31 days. 

In Michigan we do not need a reason to terminate a tenant lease agreement because it is our choice to renew it or not.  A termination of Tenancy is not an eviction.  .

If the tenant is on an annual lease, you must wait until it is ready to expire and once again send them a written Notice of Termination of Tenancy (you can buy these forms online) and give the tenant a full 30 day notice prior to their termination of tenancy just like you did on a month to month.

EVICTION:  Is another story.

Non payment of rent.  Drugs - Health Hazard, are reasons for evictions, but not much else.

Everything depends upon your lease agreement, what is stated in it, how it is stated, and whether or not it is legal.

To begin the Eviction process in MIchigan for non payment of rent you must give them a 7 Day Notice to Quit.  (E.G. A Demand for Possession) Once again you don't count the dail you mailed it, or the two days for mailing, but on the 3rd day  you can start counting and after 7 full days of the notice, you can file a Summons and Complaint for non payment of rent in the court house.  Make sure you write the tenants name on the lease and the words ALL OCCUPANTS in order to evict everyone that is living in the rental unit.  By using the words ALL OCCUPANTS, you are eviction everyone in POSSESSION of the rental unit, including the dog! 

Usually the courts will schedule a 10 day period before you go to court.  So your tenant now has had 10 days free rent, plus the 7 days notice, and the 3 days of mailing.  Nice hey!  When you  go to court, the Judge will ask the tenant why they didnt' pay rent.  They may say you are a slumlord and didn't take care of repairs.  They may say, they paid you, but they will have to prove it.  Whatever reason, the courts will give them another 10 days.  You are now almost into month 2, another rental period, and still the tenant most likely has not moved.

If the tenant doesn't move you will have to  file a Writ of Restitution, in court, to have the tenant removed by a court appointed official.  You will have to pay the Officer, per room , to toss them out, and their belongings.  So you will need to have a dumpster ready.

All these legal forms you can purchase online. 

Don't be scared of what I've just said.  We all have had to go through it and we survived.  It's all apart of learning how it all works, and then we need to see how we can avoid it in the future.

Nancy Neville.

Retired Detroit Landlord 13 years-hubby 30 years.  40 rental units, from apartments to duplexes to single family homes.