Can You Evict During This Period if There is No Lease?

Question

I have several investment properties and have a weird one here.

My tenant, who the lease is with, passed away from natural causes in the summer.

We found out he passed from some caretaker living there (that we had no idea was living there with him).

She wanted to remain there for a few short months, before moving elsewhere.

She wanted a 3 month lease, we gave it to her.

Lease expired in August and then she wanted to continue staying there, month to month, claiming she needed some more time to move to wherever it was she was going to.

She paid last month.

This month no payment came in on October 1, no returned calls to my property manager asking about the late payment and eventually she sends over some CDC letter and doesn't want to pay anything.

I have no doubt she will ride out the CDC order for however long it lasts.

I'm afraid this CDC order will prevent me from evicting her, even though she has no lease. I have no idea what could be going on there or if the property is being demolished.

I've never been in a situation like this, have no idea what my options are given the facts.

Patricia Steiner · Answer

Here's what I recommend:

Schedule a property inspection; give the legal advance notice per your state and then go with a checklist in hand and see the condition of it.  If she has violated the lease terms in any way -other than non-payment - see can still be evicted.  Here's that criteria:

The Order does not prevent you from being evicted for(1) engaging in criminal activity while on the premises;(2) threatening the health or safety of other residents;(3) damaging or posing an immediate and significant risk of damage to property;(4) violating any applicable building code, health ordinance, or similar regulation relating tohealth and safety; or (5) violating any other contractual obligation of a tenant’s lease, other than the timely payment of rent Provide the CDC Declaration for her completion and signature; you can download it here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronaviru...

Page 2, bullet 3, states the tenant is still liable for unpaid rent.  Highlight that in yellow and require her initials next to it.

Issue a Notice To Quit.  Put her on notice that her lease has expired, it will not be renewed, she has failed to pay rent; give her 10 days to cure. Advised that she failed to provide the CDC Declaration in October when she stopped paying rent, and that all unpaid rent will be due and payable on or before 1.1.2021.

Bottom line:  She isn't playing well in the playground.  Make sure she knows it's your ball, your court - and that while we're all in this together, she has a requirement to seek to remedy her financial hardship and pay all amounts owing.

Greg Scott · Answer

Rules are being interpreted differently from municipality to municipality and some places have their own COVID rules so I'd talk to your local eviction attorney.

In the last three months we've been able to evict a handful of residents WITH leases, two because they were breaking the law and threatening other residents with bodily harm, and a few more simply because they were not paying but had the ability to pay.  Removing a person who does not have a lease is typically easier.

The CDC guidelines are vague, not well understood (and likely unconstitutional).  Many of the tenants that throw them around fail to read the fine print that they could go to jail for lying on them.  The form requires that they seek assistance, and many will not have done so.  Also, the CDC form is intended for a judge, not the landlord.  There is no perjury penalty for sending it to your landlord but there is one for presenting one to a judge during an eviction proceeding.  So, best course of action is to follow your normal legal process.  Finally, it is not clear if the CDC guideline even applies to an expired lease, so again best to talk to a local attorney.