Lease up at Midnight, tenant was still there hours later.

[Bill Dodge]

First of all - SHE IS GONE.......

My tenant was given a notice to vacate by Mar 31 11:59 PM

Tenant provided the court a Notice to Move by Mar 31 11:59 PM on March 1

The tenant did not get out by that time - she was there an extra hour or so.

She set the temperature to 85, opened the windows and left - discovered it the next morning.

Left holes in all bedrooms and a hole 2 ft by 1 foot in the hallway and trash everywhere.  

Took 6 people 3 hours just to get rid of all the trash and shop vac the floors.

Already getting estimates for the damage repair - holes

Stove not repairable or salvageable - looks like fire inside and up the front burnt handle and controls.  

Refrigerator is also not useable.  Door shelves broken off.

Can I charge her anything for still being present in the rental as she went into the next month.

[Frank Chin]

My guess is the security deposit is used up.

I don't frequently run into these situations. I tried to prevent them first in the tenant selection process and stay on their good side. My advice is to move on, get the place fixed. With rough tenants, I always had holes in the wall, I seen it often enough and a friendly contractor who likes to chat showed me how to fix little ones caused by doorknobs banging into it, to larger ones line the 2 feet by one feet one you mentioned. I occasionally had to hire crews to cleanup as it's part of the business.

My niece's husband is a contractor up in Springfield MA where I had rentals for a while. He was showing some gut rehabs he was doing. I asked him if he does it often. He told me there's a local housing complex that's his best customer. It's about 1/3 to one half section 8, and they practically have to come in and redo the kitchens and bathrooms on most of the move-outs, since they're destroyed. It's simpler than going through the place, patch this, patch that, and replacing it with appliances that don't match.

I had a tenant who hit a rough patch, I evicted him, but treat him like a human. He filed bankruptcy, and was hounded by creditors. I know this, because some  of them called me to skip trace. He would up owing me $6,600 in back rent prior to bankruptcy. Then one day, he ask me how much he owed because he had to report it for his bankruptcy. I worked in collections at one point, and I know in these situations, the creditor collects nothing. So I reminded him he told me he'll take care of me no matter what, so if he plans to pay me after things are straighten out, don't put me down in his bankruptcy. He agreed.

Oh, he was supposed to be out Mar 31, put stayed through Jun 30. Instead of yelling at him I came by to chat and asked him if he needs help moving.

Well, 2 years after bankruptcy and his move, he started mailing me $50.00 a week. When it got down to $1,500, asked if he could settle for a lump sum of $1000.00 I said "sure". He invited me over to a barbecue where he paid me.

He thanked me for treating him like a human, and had a few beers with him and his family.