Potential Eviction Situation - Advice Needed

[Paul C.]

Hi BP,

So I inherited a couple of tenants on a duplex I bought recently in Marietta, Georgia that had only 1 full month of rent before lease expires. One tenant has been great, the other has not. I purchased duplex on December 7th and immediately called both tenants to let them know that leases would not be renewed and it was set to end on 1/31/2019. I got a call back a couple days later from "Jerry"(The bad tenant) saying that I was not allowing them enough time to move and that they couldnt believe I was doing this etc to which I told them I'm sorry, but that our current lease was also up so we needed a place to live as well. Jerry said okay and was cordial over the next 2 phone calls where I set up contractors to come in for estimates. So Jan. 5th(last day for rent) comes around and Jerry has not returned my phone calls so I went to knock on the door while a car was home and 90% sure they ignored me at the door. I decided to send a notice giving them 3 days to pay the rent or the lease was terminated. No response from that either and tried calling a couple times as well to no avail. After the 3 day period, I sent one final notice demanding possession of the home and that I would be filing an eviction tomorrow if I do not have a solution by then. Yesterday, I get a text message from Jerry saying "I will be out of the house by 1/31/2019. You can keep my deposit and I will make sure the house in left in good order" which is the only contact I have had with the tenant since 1/5. Unfortunately, the security deposit doesnt even cover the entire months rent and I really do not trust that they will leave the house in good order. I would prefer not to get in some big lawsuit and honestly my goal is to just get the property on 2/1. I do not really care about the one months rent as long as the tenant is gone, but I do not want this to drag out. Knowing my goals, what do you think is my best strategy here to protect myself? Should I continue with the eviction? At this point I have yet to respond to Jerry's text message.