out of control tenants

[Tami R.]

I had a tenant move in 9/1 and on 9/7 I had to go to the house because of fleas. When I entered the home, there were three dogs (contract stated only 2 dogs), dog crap all over the basement floor, garbage all over the living area and the yard had tons of garbage.
I sent the tenant a certified letter on the 16th of September that stated that we will inspect the home on the 25th of September at 12:30, he has not accepted the letter.
I did do a month to month lease and I want him out... what can I do?

[Jon Holdman]

Sounds like you want to try to evict him. Is the rent late? If so, that's a straightforward eviction. Even so, it may not be something you can complete by Oct 31, depending on the timelines in your area.

If you're going to evict him because he has too many dogs or there's poop in the basement, you have a harder case. Better to simply give notice that the lease is being terminated and get him out once the proper notice goes by. That requires no filings, no court hearing, no possibility the judge will tell him to get rid of the dog and clean up the poop. No reason to take the hard road. You've already done the simple thing by putting him on a month-to-month. Now just give notice and get him out.