Want tenant evicted. Is this doable under the current rent ban?

[Keran Smith]

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice on getting a problem tenant out of my Georgia rental asap when I have a federally backed loan and under the eviction ban for rentals at the moment.

The violations include the following:

- Animals in the property - added a pet addendum to the lease last month where pet fee is counted as rent)

- Non-leased occupant living in the home - had the person apply but have not added them to lease yet as credit is horrible and under the assumption that the person who signed the lease did it for the non-lease occupant as they would not qualify.

- Late Rent - Understand there is nothing I can do about this at the moment due to the evection ban.

My basis for eviction would be the non-leased occupant and possibly animals in the property though that is a tricky one as it states in lease that pet fee is considered rent (which they have not paid) and I can not evict due to late rent payments?

Open to any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks.

[Jeff Copeland]

The eviction ban implemented by Section 4024 of the CARES Act only applies to non-payment of rent. So, barring any state moratoriums on evictions (of which there are plenty right now), technically, you can still evict for other violations of the lease not related to payment of rent. 

But the conventional wisdom is don't try to use an eviction for pets or unauthorized occupants as cover for non-payment of rent. That will quickly come to light in court. 

If you added a pet addendum, then it sounds like the pet is no longer an issue, or grounds for any legal action.

That leaves you with the unauthorized occupant, However, if you have been accepting rent payments despite knowing about the unauthorized occupant, you've essentially given them permission based on the legal principle of waiver.

(I am not an attorney and I'm not giving you legal advice, but see this video for more info: https://vimeo.com/356466356 - Note that the video is based on Florida, so you'll need to confirm the notice requirements for Georgia).

Bottom line: You probably need to seek legal advice from a local attorney on this matter, and getting an eviction through the courts right now may be a tall order. 

When does the current lease expire? Because you may have to bite the bullet until you can non-renew the lease.