Tenant who signed the lease isn't living in the apartment?

Question

Looking for others who may have been in the same boat as this is a new one for me. My business partner and I have only owned the rental for about a year and half in Ohio. We had a lady sign the lease, but to this day have not seen her in/out of the building. She supposedly tells us her cousin is looking after the apartment while she is traveling for work. He seems to be there almost everyday or when we happen to stop by to do some remodel work. Long story short we have had several different complaints all that we document via email, texts, and phone conversation with the original gal who signed the lease. We told her that this last complaint is the 3rd strike as all 3 complaints have violated the lease agreement. We believe she signed the lease for someone else all along. She has agreed via phone conversation and email that she will move out by the end of the month and that we would not file an eviction. When we asked her if she spoke with her cousin to confirm that everything would be moved out by the end of the month, she keeps giving excuses on why she hasn't had time to talk to him.

What grounds or options do we have to get her "cousin" to move out? He is the only one living at the apartment from what we know. I assume we technically don't need to file an eviction if the actual tenant who signed the lease agrees to terminating the lease? Can we just call the police and say we have unknown people living in our apartment? Not asking for legal advice/mentoring. Just trying to figure out what we can do.

Jonathan Nguyen · Answer

John Techout--There were several violations against the least (at least 3 or more) over 7 month period. We documented emailed and sent certified letters to them as well to correct the problems. Under Ohio law, we are to give 3 day notice after we terminate the lease.

This was all just an odd situation as the person who signed the lease agreed with terminating the lease and moving out, it was the "other" person not on the lease who was not communicated to that they need to move out by the end of the month. Luckily, we were able to post a nice "move out checklist" on their door instead of a VACATE by this date etc. We really think that helped from making the situation confrontational. They ended up moving out at the end of July (well "move out" if you even want to call it that). No real damage, just minor touch up paint, and a lot of clean up. It could have been worse. Thanks to all who chimed in!

Colleen F. · Answer

@Jonathan Nguyen Kudos  to you for getting the situation resolved amicably and especially for posting an UPDATE!   so many threads you wonder how people made out in the end.

Shefali Trivedi · Answer

Glad Jonathan you were to get it resolved without the property being damaged. Cheers!

Remington Lyman · Answer

I would connect with an Ohio attorney immediatly. They will ask for your lease and you guys can brainstorm on how to proceed from there. Please let me know if you need some referrals.

Jonathan Nguyen · Answer

Originally posted by @Shefali Trivedi:

Glad Jonathan you were to get it resolved without the property being damaged. Cheers!

Thank you Colleen. I agree as I see it too often as well. Hopefully our situation can help someone else in the future. Conveying the messaging in a nicely manner instead of leaving a note "you must vacate by this date" seemed to definitely help.

Learning lesson for my partner and I---Even with a background check for credit, eviction, etc. ALWAYS meet them in person and do a "interview" and truly meet the person to get a feel.

John Teachout · Answer

If they are violating the lease, then you need to post a cure or quit notice that gives them an opportunity to "correct" the violation. If it's for non payment, they you post a "pay or quit" notice. These notices are the first step to an eviction. (make sure you comply exactly with the laws in the jurisdiction the property is in. If they are on a month to month lease, you can just advise them of a non renewal. This is typically called a "vacate notice" but may vary by area. Some states require a 30 day notice, some a 60 day notice so again, follow your local laws exactly.

IF.... they don't comply or move out, that's when you file an unlawful detainer (eviction) and just have to go through the process. In most cases, if someone discovers you're serious about taking this through the court system, they'll try to get things resolved without having something on their background.

Jonathan Nguyen · Answer

Thank you all for the responses. Shefali-I have not tried after cash for the keys yet. I will post an update once we hopefully get everything resolved

Shefali Trivedi · Answer

Unfortunately, the police will not get involved - you will have to go the eviction route naming the tenants and all "John Does" living on the property and only have you get the eviction order, will the sheriff get involved to help with the lock out - the process takes time and especially with Covid, tenants have a lot of safety nets. Have you tried offering cash for keys to resolve it quickly?

Tenant who signed the lease isn't living in the apartment?

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