Remove Tenant Without Eviction

[Larry H.]

I have a tenant in a D class neighborhood out of state. She’s been terrible from the start. I’m at fault for not screening very well due to the applicant pool and neighborhood. Everything out of her mouth has been lies. I had an inspection today and found out she has violated several terms of the lease. She has an unauthorized person living there, she has an unauthorized cat, and she’s been smoking weed inside the house (2 violations in 1). I called the city court and they aren’t accepting eviction petitions until June, and won’t be holding eviction hearings until August. (I am over this corona crap!)

I’m not waiting 3 months to get this trash out. I told the tenant she has a week to move out and I’m changing the locks. To my dismay, she knows that I can not legally do that, but in these times I’m willing to take the risk. She’s already talking about settling this in court. I have no problem with that, IF I COULD GET A COURT DATE.

Some alternatives I was thinking about to make her move were not changing the locks, but removing the refrigerator and kitchen sink and countertop (which I own). The kitchen sink and counter are a small one piece deal I got from Home Depot. It would not take much to remove it.

Any other suggestions or ideas? Anyone experience something similar?

[Jim K.]

And this is how we end up with protective tenant laws all over the place. Because no matter how much sane advice @Larry H. gets here, chances are he's going to try something questionable. Another big black mark against all landlords everywhere.