Tenant Arrested and Swat Team Damage

[Jeff Lisa]

I purchased a 4-plex in Las Vegas in June 2018 with all units occupied. A tenant messaged me and said SWAT broke into the appartment above hers and arrested someone. The tenant upstairs (who lived alone or maybe had his father living with him according to the previous owner) cannot be reached, so I assume he and if someone else was living there was arrested.

Two things to address here; (1) I have a tenant that didn't pay Nov's rent and I can't reach him (presumably because he was arrested), and (2) SWAT broke the door off the hinges, broke two windows, and there are burn marks on the wall and ceiling (maybe from a flash-bang or smoke flare they shot in through the window). 

I am not local, but the other tenant sent me some pictures and my awesome realtor went there, secured the place and took more pictures. I sent my realtor an eviction notice noting non-payment of rent, destruction to the property, and illegal activities (which is an logical assumption, although I have no proof of that). It seems I have the legal rights to evict the tenant, but what do I do with his stuff? What if it was wrong arrest situation? The police said the arrest record is not public information until the case is closed (and that length of time depends on the plea and/or a trial). 

Regarding the damage, I was referred to the Police Risk Management department to file a claim, which they said may or may not be covered. We'll see how that plays out. 

Anybody have experience with any of this, most importantly evicting an arrested tenant?

[Casey Powers]

You can evict for nonpayment. To my knowledge there is no exception for tenant being in jail. Nonpayment is nonpayment. I would file it online and let the court pass it, then proceed with constable lockout as usual. I do evictions often as owners hire me for exactly that. 

You will have to store his stuff for up to 30 days. There are services for this, or you can document it (with pictures) and move it to storage so you can get started turning the property. 

Unless a realtor also has a property management permit, they aren’t legally supposed to be managing rentals in any capacity in Nevada.