Help with Eviction Decisions

[Monica Morff]

Hi All!

I wanted to write because o have some questions on a current tenant situation that we have. First, let me preface by saying we have had very good luck (screening) with tenants and this has been our first real problem tenant. Warning: this may be long. 

We began renting to five adults in December of 2017 and they had a year lease and paid on time. They rented both units of a duplex. Fast forward a year, three of them want to move and two want to stay in one side of the duplex so we continue renting to just the couple. First month, they are late and tell is they mailed a check. A week goes by, the tenant says she received the letter back because she miswrote the address. She sends it again, then a few days later texts to say she got notification that we cashed the check and is glad we got it. I respond that we did not receive it and ask for proof of the text she got saying it was cashed. She said it is on her husbands phone and he will get it to us that evening. Well he said it was a money order (they wouldn’t have gotten notification about a money order so obviously they are lying) but he says he broke his phone at work that day and is using a different one so he doesn’t have the text. At this point, we are at the beginning of the next month and we send a pay or quit. They respond that they were “waiting for us to send one” and request emergency assistance for the first two months which we receive and they are current again.

Now, unrelated to the rent, a week or so after we get paid, we are in the lower unit painting and hear him screaming at her, threatening to hit her, furniture is being pushed around, and we hear kids crying. So we leave the unit and request a welfare check from police. Husband gets arrested and we check online- he had a warrant for felony check fraud (from after they moved in) and he spends over a week in jail before posting bail.

Fast forward again to the beginning of this month, we check in right away and they say they will pay soon and want to set up payments online which is great! Well, of course, nothing happens so we deliver another pay or quit notice and they tell us they can’t afford to pay because he lost his job since we called the police. So they are blaming us now for their late rent. At this point, we just continue saying we still intend to move forward with eviction after the 5 days are up if they do not pay or leave. They didn’t and we filed for eviction. Now, we are three days after the end of the five days given and they just texted to say they’d have this months rent and next months which starts tomorrow and have asked what to do with it. 

I really don’t know what to do because at this point I don’t want to deal with them anymore, but also don’t want to be unfair. Should we let them know that we already filed for eviction and will only stop it when the money for two months plus filing fees is in our hands? Or just not accept at all and move forward with eviction? Will the judge rule against us because of our police call? 

We could really use advice! I know that we could’ve handled this better from the beginning and we will now send pay or quit on the day after rent is due, but we have learned. 

Thank you in advance!