Cut and run?

Question

OK here's an odd one...at least for me:
Had 2 apartments open up side by side one month.  Rehabbed both, both on market same time.

Found 2 tenant prospects SAME DAY.  Both single moms, both qualified, they picked each apartment (one front, one back).  Rear one works out OK...cash each month.

Front one, she moves in April 1, and I give keys, etc.  Moves her stuff in, I give her a couch or 2, good so far. May rolls around, my wife has our baby Savannah...so I do rent pickups but am kinda distracted.

May 18th or so, I realize a few (3) tenants aren't paid up...so I make phone calls.  Gentle ones, saying "Just had a baby, might have missed it, but don't have record of...etc.etc."  All tenants but her call and clarify ... the checks were waiting for me to pick up (they should mail em but whatever...) in one case I had forgotten that her check was deposited (got it day wife went into labor).

Dead silence from this tenant.  Give her several calls and late notices, still in a mess from baby, so I decide to let it go to June 1 (We're normally "Late by 5th, File by 11th" company).

However, the apartment needs "emergency maintenance" - so I enter.  EVERYTHING is there.  Like she went out to work...right down to kids toys and her "personal recreational" devices.

No clothes, no toothbrushes.  Milk expired on April 8.  yes, less than a week after she moved in.

Cell phone dead on bed.

I'm spooked at this point.  I leave another violation notice, "masking tape" trigger the door so I can see if it is opened, and go visit the magistrate.

June 1, 2, 3, no rent.  Leave another "intent to enter" notice, and go in on the 5th.  EVERYTHING is exactly where it was last time.

We're scheduled for eviction this Thursday.

Jon Holdman · Answer

I think you're creating a ton of pain for yourself.  New baby or not, you have to still tend to your knitting if you're going to be a landlord.  This situation is strange and perhaps tragic.  That's not YOUR problem though.  If no rent and no response, post the pay or quit on the first day you can.  Follow the procedure and take possession.  Pack all this stuff up, store it for the required time or just set it out, whatever your law is.  Clean it up and re-rent it.  At this point you've lost May and June rent.  Don't know what your PA laws are, but in CO, this could have all been handled in May and it would have at least been rent ready by June 1.

Just Don · Answer

time to read up on abandonment.  Here it is 14 days.  The tenants could be anywhere and never return.

follow the steps,,and give another courtesy call to emergency contacts advising what you are doing.  Maybe on the run,,maybe found a boyfriend.  Ask the neighbors???

Cut your losses and re-rent it asap as it is legal.

Account Closed · Answer

Or go to the police department and ask how to request public records in some areas as long as you know a name, dob they will give you all the records you might would have to pay a few bucks for processed but as mentioned above these files are public record and can be requested at any time.

Here is the relevant website for the state I see your from.

http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/open_records/4434

Account Closed · Answer

Doesn't sound like anyone else is concerned, so perhaps they already know and don't think it appropriate to tell you.  Can't imagine that she is dead or missing if the family is unconcerned.  More likely something personal.  Taking the clothes and toothbrush and leaving everything is odd behavior, but no else seems concerned.

Regardless of the rest of the drama, you still want to abide by the terms of the lease, if you make an exception for one that can be used against you in the future.  Others tenants in the building may have a clue about what's going on and are watching how you handle it.  I've run across some tenants that are very savvy about what they can and can not do.

Best to always remember this is a business.

Michael Rossi · Answer

Pea brains - that's what tenant's have.  Let's look at the facts logically.  Toothbrushes and clothes gone.  She wasn't kidnapped.  She didn't have an accident.  She isn't in the hospital.  If any of those things had happened, she wouldn't have taken all the clothes and toothbrushes.

Here's my interpretation.  A week after she moved in, she found a new shack-up boyfriend and she moved in with him.  Having a pea brain, she thought it would be forever, so she didn't take anything she didn't need.  Being a pea brain, she didn't see any reason to tell you or honor her lease.  Case solved!

Clean her crap out and move on!

Sherlock

Sam M. · Answer

The county jail here has an online roster!!!

Account Closed · Answer

All you can do is evict, which apparently you are already doing.

Furniture might be rented, so she can easily leave that.

Clothes and toothbrush gone, sounds like she went on vacation and decided to not return. My first thought would be that she is in jail,but they usually don't allow inmates to take their clothes with them.

She might be running from an ex-spouse.

Can you remember what she looks like? If it is important to you, you could go down to her work and see if you can spot her. Her coworkers won't have any privacy issues and will tell you if she has disappeared.

If no one at work has seen her, I think I might go ahead and file a missing persons report, just in case the police have her unidentified body (but what happened to the kids?). 99.9% probability that she's just gone walk-about.

Savannah Leigh · Answer

honestly, I don't care enough to do emergency contacts...she's an adult who clearly chose to screw me.  No mail has been picked up since April 8.

Cops were closed mouthed about any arrests, etc...privacy BS>....

Thanks everyone.  Hope the eviction goes smooth

Michael Rossi · Answer

Just FYI - arrests, convictions, etc are public records.  You can probably get them for free on the internet by looking up your county's court website and then searching her name.  If not, you can always go to the local courthouse and request the records the old fashioned way.

Good Luck with the eviction!

Tom Wilhelm · Answer

But maybe you and I are just peabrains...

Cut and run?

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