Help!! I've inherited a bad tenant!!

[Kaleb Carsten]

Hey BP,

I need some help. I just closed on my first property at the beginning of this month. It's a duplex that I bought in a partnership with my parents. My parents put up the capital but have said they want no part in the management side, I am fine with that. However I now have an issue with the tenant that stayed with the property.  Here is a little background about the place and tenant. The tenant had lived in the 3/1 unit of this duplex for the last thirteen years when she moved in the property was being taken care of and managed by the previous owners husband.  He passed away 5 or 6 years ago and his wife hired a broker to manage the property.  The lease had been a verbal contact for most of the time. The landlord couldn't find an original lease from when the tenant moved in. And the last lease she signed was a year ago.

She is on a month to month lease and after the offer was accepted I was informed that she has been paying late for quite sometime. Her rent is due on the first with a grace period up to the seventh.  She normally pays her rent on the tenth with a note saying do not cash until the twenty seventh.

I knew that it was going to be an interesting process to get her to pay on time. But I have not been able to speak with there tenant.  I dropped off a letter to days before closing to introduce myself as the new landlord, let her know rent is going up, and to give her the new contact number.  A week later she had not paid her rent so I sent her another letter saying your rent is late and per the lease the late fee is x amount.  I had not heard from her I stopped over to the house a few times to speak with her and never saw her. 

She still has not paid rent and when I was at the property doing some maintenance on the exterior a car pulled up saw me working and drove away. I came back a few hours later, the same car was parked out front and the lights inside where on. I could see the tenant inside the house. But she would not answer the door or move from where she was sitting by the window to come speak with me.  I was hoping she would grumble about the rent increase and being held accountable to the due date. And i would have a few months with a tenant so I could renovate the basement but still have some income.  

Is there something else I can try before I serve her a the day notice to quit?

[Sarah D.]

From what I've heard on the forums people only regret not serving a 3 day notice sooner; I don't think anyone has ever posted that they wish they hadn't served one. I'd serve the notice, find an eviction attorney, and continue with your plans. Just assume you won't get any more rent from her, and if things work out it'll be a pleasant surprise. 

Not legal advice, just thoughts from a fellow new landlord.