help.....new llandlord troubles

[Tom Hazuka]

mother passed away rental now part of trust. nephew is renting. 6 weeks ago i entered without notice to check out house ,possibally to sell, left note out of courtsey. i thought every thing was ok.nephew went balistic, was going to call police because i invaded his privacy. i appoligized and told him i was sorry. put up forsale sign, got a call to see house, called and gave 24 hr. notice and was told he changed the locks and no one gets in unless he and his wife are there. basically we are locked out of our own house and he is dictating when we can show the house..............................two questions, does he have any legal case against me{his uncle} and what legal issuse do i have against him

[Jon Holdman]

Tom Hazuka, what is your position here? Are you legally authorized to dispose of the property? You say the property is "part of trust" but you write like you're the owner.

Assuming you're authorized, you need to know about landlord tenant law and the lease for the nephew. That lease may well still be in effect. That may limit your ability to sell the property, or may stay in effect it you do sell.

Without a doubt, you messed up with you entered without notice "to check out house". Had there been some sort of emergency, this might have been OK. Otherwise, some notice is required. You may be the owner, but you don't have possession of the house. The tenant does, and they're entitled to "quite enjoyment" of the property. That includes the landlord not entering the house without notice when they're not there.

Whether or not changing the locks was illegal depends on the lease and local laws. My lease prohibits that without landlord permission. That doesn't make it illegal. It makes it a violation of the lease, which is a civil matter. I could evict on that basis.

Try apologizing. Try having a conversation and find out what the tenant is thinking. This may well come down to an eviction, but don't start there. At the same time, learn local landlord/tenant law. That may mean a couple hundred spent on a lawyer. And find out what, if any lease exists. If there is not one, you have a default lease, as determined by local laws.