Non-Paying Tenant Due to Covid - What Options as a Landlord?

[Dan Gustavson]

Hey Community - I have some questions and would love some guidance on what I can/cannot do as a landlord during the moratorium (in Salt Lake City). Feb 1st my tenant paid 2/3rd of the monthly rent and then sent us a text stating she had missed out on work due to covid and would like a reduced rent (she asked for a $650 reduction) for the next three months, then after that, she would resume paying and sign a new least when the current one expires the end of April. Neither of us mentioned the CARES/CDC moratorium in our brief conversation. However, I do know she is supposed to send me a signed declaration and has to go through a list of other qualifications in order to be protected, she has not done any of the required guidelines. I said I would be willing to work with her but had some questions and asked if she had applied for the rental assistance program, she said she would look into it. I asker her three days later what the status was and she said she would do it that day. I asked again the next day and now she has gone silent. Figured she would be all over that rent relief program as it's free money for her and I still get full rent.. win win. Regardless, I will be sending her a non-renewal letter as I won't be signing another lease with her.

What are my options here, I know that it's in my favor that the annual lease she signed is expiring soon, but can I serve her with a Pay or Vacate eviction notice right now since she hasn't provided me with any information that she's struggling other than a brief text message or does that break the moratorium guidelines? I am hoping she responds back to me this weekend, I would like to work out the situation rather than it get ugly.

Appreciate your guidance, I'm dealing with all of this while on a deployment in Iraq and have never had to deal with possible eviction issues, so thank you!

[Brianne Leichliter]

@Dan Gustavson although I don’t live in Salt Lake, I can make some recommendations based on my personal experience with an eviction in Ohio (Cincinnati).

When is her lease up exactly?

You absolutely can post just as you normally would. You can even start the eviction process if you really want to now, but I would start with the notice.

As you said, the declaration only applies if she has gone through all of the steps and exhausted other efforts of payments. I highly recommend getting advice from an attorney. The best $126 reorientation I ever had.

If you are sending her a non-renewal, make sure you indicate that she must vacate and a holdover is not covered by the CDC Moratorium. Landlords have rights to take their property back after the lease is up.

I didn’t have a non-paying tenant but I did have a holdover and a successful eviction during the moratorium. I know the process and courts vary state by state, but it’s doable.