I am in a really tricky situation on one of my rentals in SA, TX

[Julio Morales]

This may be a long one so please bear with me I want to give a background to hopefully paint a better picture. I am at a standstill and really hope the BP community can provide some advice. I have two rental properties (3bdr and a 5bdr) in San Antonio, Texas. I am active duty Air Force and stationed in Okinawa, Japan. I have two property managers one for each property, mainly due to the distance between them. My family was living in the 5bdr with me until I received orders to South Korea (2016) and they ended up staying in the home until I received orders to Okinawa Japan (2020). In March of 2020, my family decided to go their own way and move to different cities. I put the 5dbr home up for rent after my sister met a property manager at the salon she was working at. I did some research on her and she has a very good reputation and has been in the business for decades. This property took a while to get tenants mostly because there are so many homes available. Since my target tenants are military or medical staff I stayed patient. This all was going on as COVID-19 had just hit the world and many people did not want physical tours of the home. When the Summertime comes around in military towns there are way too many options when it comes to rental homes and people get very picky. So I waited almost 4 months and at this time I am getting worried it will not rent. Finally, an older gentleman contacts my property manager and tells her he wants to rent this home for his grandson, (that will only be at the property once in a while), his daughter, and her 2 children. The older gentleman is a doctor and his credit and background check come back great no red flags there. I was told that the granddaughter will be attending school to become a lawyer but her credit score comes back and it is not looking too good she also has had a prior eviction, a car that was in collections, and 3 medical collections. At this point I am desperate, I have a grandfather that is willing to pay for his grandchildren's rent and education so I say why not "what's the worst that can happen"? Famous last words I know, but I was desperate and all I can think was this house was going to stay vacant for many months to come. I did voice my concerns to my property manager and she and I were on the same page. 

Okay, this is where it gets interesting. The contract is completed and the tenants move in this in October of 2020. One week into renting to this family the police are called to the house. I find out because my next door neighbors have a son and he is best friends with my nephew. So I get a Facebook message from my nephew's best friend's mother saying that there are police at the house and she sends videos and pictures of what's going on. Come to find out the grandaughter is in a very abusive relationship with her boyfriend and he allegedly beat her up and the kids, the police arrived arrested the boyfriend and CPS took the kids. The next day, the house gets tagged with graffiti some of it is in English and some are in Arabic. The surveillance camera installed facing the driveway captured everything and my neighbor came out and video tapped the person doing it. Apparently, the man was the daughter's ex-husband and just wants custody of the kids. Again this is after ONE week. So I tell my property manager they need to be evicted. Well, the doctor paying for the rent refuses to leave he said he did nothing wrong. My property manager talked to an attorney and they informed her that an eviction could not be done and the only thing that would get them out is nonpayment. Well, two weeks pass and nothing has happened. We then receive an email from the grandson and the daughter saying that they would like to leave but the father does not and will not leave. November 4th my property manager gets a call from the doctor and he states that he has been hospitalized and wants to apologize for everything that happened and says he will continue to pay until we get new tenants but he wants everyone's name except his off of the lease. We agree and make a new contract, everyone signs and in my head, this will all finally be over soon. Fast forward to the end of December 2020, I am informed that the doctor has passed away and the daughter is back in the house and will not leave. Regardless of what has been happening to my house, my heart goes out to their family, he seemed like a very nice man and was only wanting what's best for his family but with his passing came more issues. His son is now the primary beneficiary and since December there has been no payment. January 2021 rolls around and my neighbor sends me a picture of my back door being kicked in. So I think it's a break-in and turns out it's just the daughter living there rent-free, she lost her key and kicked in the door to get in. On the second week of January after many avoided phone calls, the doctor's son finally talks to my property manager and says he will only pay for December. My property manager informed him that per the lease the heirs are responsible for the rent until the end of the lease. Either way, he said he will not pay until February 28th. As for the daughter living in my house rent-free, she found an apartment but does not have money to move until March 10th, 2021. Since that last phone conversation the son has ducked and dodged every phone call, text and email. Due to covid, the courts are not issuing evictions, my property manager has informed them that the person in my house is not on the lease she is technically a squatter. Thank you all so much for reading this very long post. I hope to get some advice as to what I can do next. Have a wonderful rest of the day. 

- SSgt Julio F. Morales