What if tenant prevents access to property?

Question

Short version of the story:

-My mom has dementia, is out of money, and has been moved to an independent facility. The house is owned outright, but she is otherwise broke. We are loaning her estate 5K/mo to pay for her stay a the facility.

-We served my deadbeat sister who has mooched off mom for years, rent-free, with eviction papers. Except for the deadbeat sister, the house is empty. No furniture, utensils, food, carpet, etc. Utilities are on, but otherwise, it's a bare house.

-We notified the deadbeat sister, in writing as required, (72 and) 24 hours in advance that the carpet installers were coming today.

-When the installers arrived (they had the door code), she fled to her bedroom and screamed at them until they left (without carpeting any of the house).

Is this grounds to terminate her tenancy immediately? It's going to cost us a minimum of $500 more to have the installers come back another day. I'd make her pay for it, but she has no money.

What else can we do?

***Before you criticize me/us for evicting my sister, it's not something my other sisters and I ever wanted. We gave her plenty over a year of warning about the situation, and have tried to work with her, but she will not communicate with us in any way. We offered cash for keys, which she didn't respond to. At this rate, we'll be selling the house in winter, and that's gonna hurt my mom's finances huge.

Any community thoughts / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Paul Kubin · Answer

In case anyone was interested, we went through the eviction process. We assumed that my deadbeat sister probably didn't have the money or composure to hire an attorney to fight it, and she didn't. She moved out on the night of the 60th day. Changed the locks, eh voila, it's taken care of.

Thanks all for your help!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

You can't trespass her. You have to go through a formal eviction.

I recommend you hire an attorney with experience. Once they start serving her with notice of termination, there's a very good chance she'll realize it's a lost cause and move out. If not, just go through the process of eviction and get her out. It may cost a little and take a little time, but you'll be happy you hired a professional and did it right the first time.

Noah Laker · Answer

Sorry to hear about this situation... but yup, with no lease agreement in place and all of the violations it can't be hard to get rid of the "tenant"

Ben Scott · Answer

I'm sure you're glad that's over with. Onward and upward.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Paul Kubin get a lawyer since this could be an ejectment or eviction depending on the agreement and if money changed hands. My brother had this issue with some cousins who stayed with him. He had to evict. If she is acting like this I would wait on the carpet. If you think she is disturbed you could ask for a welfare check by police when she acts up. I would worry she will damage any repairs you make.

Sergey A. Petrov · Answer

Step 1 is getting the house vacant. yes, sounds like a formal eviction. Even if there is not a written lease agreement, your sister like gained the tenancy status by just being there. All the usual landlord tenant things now cone into play

Step 2 is deciding what you want to do with the house. Rehab to sell? Rehab to rent? The budget and the finishes may be different depending on what path you choose.

Step 2 can’t happen before Step 1 unless you are ok continuing with the status quo

Adam Martin · Answer

I really don’t understand why you are installing carpet. It sounds like she is a deadbeat and you will have to evict but I really wouldn’t do updates while she is in there. The house will sell better with brand new carpet not newish that you are hoping she doesn’t damage. She has no reason to cooperate if she is being evicted and people in desperate situations do strange things be patient and wait for her to be gone. I’d also install security cameras and get a no trespass order so she doesn’t make her way back in through a window while it is vacant.

Justin Moy · Answer

I'd agree with Ben. If there isn't a lease and it's your property, and not in your sisters name, you should be able to remove her. If she has ownership in the property, I guess that would be the biggest prevention to getting this done.

Ben Scott · Answer

So sounds like she has no lease agreement and no ownership stake? Pretty harsh but you might have to call the cops for trespassing. Sorry your fam is going through that.

What if tenant prevents access to property?

What if tenant prevents access to property?

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