Evictions ("Professional Tennant") - Help!

[Carly Turow]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about how to get rid of a professional tennant?

My boyfriend owns a house in Tampa, FL. He's owned it since Jan 2017. When my boyfriend put it on the market, this guy wanted to buy it but through the two real estate agents, they negotiated that he would move in on a short-term rental agreement with the intention of buying afterward. This guy put $20,000 into my boyfriends account as a "trust me I'll buy your house" kind of move and it was to be applied to the home price, IF he bought it. It was also non-refundable if he didn't buy.

Well, the rental agreement ended on March 2020 and this guy stopped paying rent, and has refused to leave. My boyfriend has been in a lawsuit trying to evict this guy since June. The last two times my boyfriend's lawyer set up a civil court date, the guy started to file for bankruptcy THE DAY BEFORE the court date. TWICE. Both times it gave the guy a 30 day stay on the property.. pushing back any possible civil court date.

The next court date is March 11, and I'm so worried this guy is going to pull the same filing for bankruptcy.. since people can do this over and over, unlimited times.

My boyfriend's mortgage is going to kick back in again in 30 days (it was pushed back because of covid) and now we're worried because we can't afford that 2,000 mortgage AND our rent here in south florida.. and we can't move into his house because the guy is still living there.

Does anyone have any advice? Have you seen this play out before? What can we (or my boyfriend's lawyer) possible do to stop this guy from constantly filing bankruptcy in order to keep living there for free?

My boyfriend's worried that the worst-case scenario is the bank will repossess his house..

thanks so much

[Kim Meredith Hampton]

@Carly Turow I am sorry to hear this!! The whole eviction moratorium and this craziness has caused heartburn for so many.

First off, what type of attorney are you using? You can still evict someone who is under bankruptcy, the judge can pull the eviction from the bankruptcy, they are two separate items. Experienced real estate attorneys should be able to help.

I will say that due to Covid they may look at things differently. 
if you need the name of a couple real estate attorneys, just message me, happy to help