Tenants not leaving & ghosting me

[Thomas Moran]

Hey BP -

I've got my investor friends to weigh in on this, but would love to hear the collective wisdom of this communities input.

Background: bought a SFH with a tenant in place. It's been a little rocky with them so far. Two of them don't speak english so I have to communicate with their daughter. Their lease ended 5 days ago and they are still living there, and she will not return my calls/texts/emails. I have no contact info for her parents and the prior landlord is claiming he doesn't either (very odd).

My two schools of thought: a) proceed immediately with eviction proceedings, or at least send a warning letter. b) continue trying to cordially reach them to mitigate fees associated with eviction, headache and them potentially trashing the place in retaliation.

Any seasoned vets want to weight in here? This is my third rental so i'm still getting the hang of this thing.

Thanks guys.

Tom

[Michael Garofalo]

@Thomas Moran I have been in this boat before, purchased a value-add property knowing that in additional to physical distress, there were also issues with pre-existing tenants. Speaking from personal experience, I would not try to be cordial with them and sort anything else out at this point. You could go over there and confront them in person however sounds like you don't know much about these people or what they are capable of.

If it was me, I wouldn't waste any more time and would simply make a cash for keys offer, with the caveat that if they are not out by a certain date, you will proceed with an eviction and that cash for keys offer will be off the table forever. Emphasize that if the eviction moves forward, they will have a very hard time finding future housing, their credit will be further tarnished, wages could be garnished etc. 

In parallel, talk to an attorney to optimize the timing for notice to quit and what the entire process is going to look like. If they don't accept your cash for keys offer, you will want to post a notice on their door as soon as possible to get the legal process going. You also will have to be cognizant of local and federal regulations concerning evictions in the midst of this pandemic. Rather than evicting for non-payment of rent, you likely will have to find another reason to remove them to be heard by a magistrate or judge.