What to do: 3 days left and tenant hasn’t packed

[Jonathan Boyd]

So I bought an inhabited duplex with FHA financing intending to get both sides to leave so I could renovate both sides. The tenant on the side we intend to live on got booted by PM the day before we took possession. Other side knew through our limited conversations and the advisement of the PM that they’d probably need to leave as well. Upon taking possession I made him aware i was going to need him to leave, and then a week later, gave him formal notice in writing (and notarized) that he had 46 days to leave. I later verbally extended it one day. So between former PM warning him during closing, my conversations with him, and the 46 day notice, he’s known for over 60 days he needed to leave. We’re 3 days away and I haven’t seen a single box or evidence of packing. In Arkansas, I can choose to do criminal or civil eviction, but would rather do neither. This is my first unit to manage myself, and just looking for ideas and thoughts from those more experienced who’ve been here. I’ve offered him his deposit in cash when he hands keys to me on or before deadline, but that doesn’t seem incentive enough.

[Brie Schmidt]

I have also learned in my years of doing this that some people are just serious procrastinators.  I have seen single guys literally walk in at 8 am with a box of black garbage bags and hand me the keys to a vacant apartment at noon.