My tenant is absent and I need help with this one. Please and Thank you.

My tenant is absent and I need help with this one. Please and Thank you.

Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hello everyone, I inherited a piece of property in Berkeley CA from my grandmother a few years back. I love the place, I've been renting out the units and getting steady income just as they were designed to do. Unfortunately I have had an ongoing issue with one of the tenants. This tenant an elderly lady who's on section 8. Her daughter was living with her (not on the section 8 voucher though), but has moved out because of issues she's had with her mother. My tenant had a medical emergency several months ago and is now in a long term living facility (simply put, she can't be on her own). She's been there for 8-10 months. Nobody is living in the unit, the city came out to inspect the unit, nobody was there to let them in (it failed because of this). The housing authority also came out after I told them nobody is living there anymore, so they removed her from the section 8 program and they no longer pay a portion of the rent. The tenants daughter was paying her mother's rent, but hasn't paid for the past 4 months. Now I get zero rent for the unit. I mailed a 3 day to pay or quit notice, obviously nobody was there to receive it. I have offered (5 months ago, to the daughter) to give her mother $1,000 for the keys to the unit. The daughter, who again wants nothing to do with her mother, counter offered me with $8,000, and that would be something that she could "talk her mother into doing". I want this tenant out, she has no timeframe of a return to the unit. Housing authority hasn't been able to reach the mother (who is the only one on the voucher) and when they spoke with the daughter, she stated that she doesn't handle her mother's affairs anymore. Ohhh, and I haven't spoken to the tenant in over a year, I've only spoken to the daughter. I need some guidance with this one before I just reach out to a lawyer. Thank you BiggerPockets team.

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  • Peter MckernanBusiness Member
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Irvine, CA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

     Is there anyone else that talks to the month? A brother, a son or anyone else? I would ask the daughter this and see if there is someone else that she has been in touch with to get ahold of the month. You really want to be dealing directly with the mother, or a person with Power of Attorney. That is the best course of action. I really would not be negotiating cash for keys now with the daughter at all.. 

    The DM (decision maker) is the best person to be in touch with then the next in line maybe the person now she is closest with.. 

    I would start the process for this as an eviction with an eviction attorney, and make sure you follow the process correctly to get her out. If there is something that happens with cash for keys in the meantime you can stop the eviction process. 

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  • Property Manager · Tacoma, WA · Member since 2024 · 60 posts · 39 votes
    1y

    Begin the eviction process as you would any other tenant, immediately. Typically, I would recommend handling the notification portion yourself then handing the rest to a professional team that does this.

    Maintain rapport with daughter, tell her you have initiated eviction process. Hope this brings her to speak with her mother. If the daughter is not on the lease, ensure you have signed papers from the mother herself if they move out early.

    Almost zero chance they will pay rent again. Even smaller chance you recoup expenses via collections. Recommend cash for keys here (like you already tried) and getting them to sign a termination of lease.

    If the lease period ended and they are on month-to-month typically you have leverage (depending on what your lease says, or local laws) to end the lease at the end of the month given prior notification. If you're in that situation, ensure you follow proper procedure and proceed with that option in conjunction with your eviction process to have redundancy.

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