Having an issue with an inherited tenant in Champaign Illinois.

[Umaha Essien]

Need suggestions on ways to handle this tenant. I knew she would be a headache when I was in the process of buying this set of homes, but the deal was just too good to pass up. I followed procedure and gave her a 30 day notice in regards to a rent hike etc. Closed on the home in November, gave her notices right after, left everything the same for December and we are now in January which is when all changes are supposed to take effect and she is yet to sign the new lease etc. She did pay the  old rent amount for December but I am yet to hear a peep out of her this month. Some more facts; she was on a month to month lease with the old owners and the last lease she signed was from 2017, she uses the home for airbnb and is pretty good at it based on her host ratings. The eviction moratorium has my hands tied. What to do?!!!

[Shawn Q.]

(Not a lawyer, opinion here) So is she AirBnBing the whole place, or is she living there and just doing a room? That would make a difference in how you handle this. In any case I would do the following:

Screenshot her AirBnB listing of your place just so you have some records that is going on. Most leases include a prohibition on running a business out of a rental, but I assume you've already looked at the old lease. You'll also want to explicitly cover that in your lease template, so you'll need to work with your lawyer.

Read the eviction moratorium and contact a lawyer. The December renewal actually isn't that restrictive and if the tenant didn't come with a Declaration that they are a covered person (which would have come from the prior owner) then they may not be protected. Sounds like this is a situation where they just don't want to pay, not that they can't because of covid. Just being stubborn isn't covered by the moratorium. The lawyer would be able to tell you what the local steps are (including steps short of eviction in order to encourage a new lease signing).

Don't accept rent for January for the old amount before talking to your lawyer! You might inadvertently create a month-to-month tenancy under the old terms.

Good luck - let us know how it goes!