Moratorium got extended through January, one renter needs to go.

[Randy Lahey]

I have a pair of duplexes.  In Pennsylvania if that matters.  One causes no problems.  In the other, the downstairs guy is shaky but at least he tries to keep his rent paid.  The upstairs guy, who I'll refer to as "Uuuhhh", because that's what he starts some sentences with, has been a long term problem.  He's a 23 year old white kid, a complete moron, and a loser in every sense of the word.

I bought the duplex in April 2019, and Uuuhhh already lived there.  We set up a 1 year lease, which has since gone month to month.  Uuuhhh lived with his girlfriend, their daughter, and a male roommate.

I gave Uuuhhh a deal, cut the grass for $50 off rent per month.  All through 2019, Uuuhhh kind of kept up with things.   Only paid rent on time a couple times, but I always got it sooner or later, within a week or 2.

Then in January 2020, the girlfriend moved out with the daughter... and the roommate!  Lotsa drama there!  This was Uuuhhh's downfall.  All through 2020, he's let his dog fill the front yard with crap and they'd only occasionally clean it (he got a new male roommate that I put on the lease), and he fell way behind in grass cutting and dog yard cleaning.  He began to FAIL at all his responsibilities, and if making excuses were a job, he'd be a millionaire.  I had to pay out a few times for others to pick up his slack on grass cutting and dog cleaning.

Then the excuses intensified.  I only got $70 of the November rent, none of his utility payments for water/trash/sewage (it's a separate bill here that comes back on me if he does not pay, I kept it in my name) and nothing of the December rent.

So we've had some good text arguments, I've tried to be careful in what I say, lest he prints it out for the judge.  But I want his useless *** out, and have already started enforcing his late lease payments, which I should have done a long time ago.  He's into me for $1625 now.  Funniest thing to me is how this idiot became a legal scholar once he wasn't paying his bills anymore.  He claims to have found a gap in the lease that he thinks makes him not responsible for the trash and sewage part of his bill (but he still has to pay his water).  He compared his lease with the guy downstairs, and theirs clearly says "trash and sewage", whereas his just has an X beside ("water service" and another X besides "water usage".  Then when I gave him an updated lease page clarifying that yes he does indeed need to pay trash and sewage (as he had been doing for over a year and a half), he claims that if he doesn't sign it, it's not valid.

The downstairs neighbor has informed me that Uuuhhh has gotten  and quit 2 jobs in the past month.  For the most recent one, Uuuhhh was the other guy's ride to work, and he just no call no showed 3 times in a row this past week.

So it'll end up in court, I'll throw him out in the snow with no hesitation at all.  But I've got this damn moratorium in the way.  I'll have to call the court and see how this affects things.

Congress has this "paycheck protection program" for businesses, can't we claim money from that for lost rental income?

Another of Uuuhhh's tricks is to constantly unplug the dehumidifier which needs to run in the basement in the summer time, I caught him doing that every time I came to check the place.

Rental payments aside, I'm hoping I can throw him out for either missing utility payments, or property damage.

[Alan Blitz]

@Randy Lahey. Pennsylvania state law does not specify how much notice landlords or tenants must provide to end a month-to-month rental agreement, but 30 days is typical. Your rental agreement should provide this information. Further, this doesn’t sound like it is an eviction because you stated the lease is month to month, all you should need to provide is the the Pennsylvania 30-day notice to quit.

I like the idea of offering cash for keys.

Please note this is not legal advice. I am not a lawyer. You should seek proper guidance from an attorney.