Frustrated with Reluctant Tenant

[Peter Spera]

Hello BiggerPockets,

Would love to get your input on how to deal with the following situation.

Decided to sell our rental property, a single family home. The current tenants of 33 months and whose lease expires on 9/27/21 have always been great tenants in paying the rent on time. However the tenants have been giving excuses to delay the sales process ( Ill possibly COVID, Elder Parent issues, aggressive dog to strangers, etc.). I am sympathetic and let things settle for 2 weeks. Made a little progress by having realtor meet with tenant to discuss next steps however things have deteriorated. Tenant will not allow pictures nor open-house for fear of their "stuff" going missing. And now have not paid August rent on time. Realtor has not yet listed house due to inadequate pictures. It seems that my hands are tied. Even threatening eviction due to failure to abide by lease is no help since the lease expires prior to any potential court proceeding. Not to mention the NJ State moratoriums in place due to COVID. 

My fear is that they will delay until they move out! 

Any feedback is welcome.

[Nathan Gesner]

There's not much you can do. focus on collecting rents. If they do not pay on time, which it seems to be the case right now, then you should start the eviction process like you would with any non-paying tenant, regardless of when their lease ends. remember the moratorium is only for people unable to pay due to the impact of covered.

If you act professional and appear to be in control of the situation, they will respond accordingly. If you appear uncertain, particularly if you are trying to negotiate or even beg, they'll think they have the upper hand and will run you ragged.