I have been a long time lurker but have never really felt the need to post until today. I was hoping for some advice on my current situation. I own a duplex (in Iowa) and I have been having a problem with one units rent. Every month the renter is a few days later with rent then the previous rent. He has always eventually made the payment so I kept letting this slide. I am now realizing my mistake here. As of today, I have not received Januarys rent. I called the tenant last week and he said payment would be mailed on Friday. As of Tuesday I did not receive payment. I called and left a message. Wednesday comes and again no call or rent, although I did get a letter from the utilities company that electricity was switched to my name. At this point I got a little worried and called him again to let him know he needed to call me by 11AM today (Thursday). I received no call by 11 so I drove out to the duplex to serve a notice to pay rent or quit. At this time I noticed, by looking into the windows, that the unit appeared vacant. I am planning on leaving another message tonight informing him that we will be entering the premises tomorrow night for a full inspection.
I am guessing his thought was that he had one months’ rent as a deposit and he would use this as his January “rent†and then he moved out at the end of January. His year lease is up at the end of March. What steps to I need to take so I can rent this unit again. What legal proceedings would I need so I can rent this unit out? At what point can I clean up the remainder of the “junk†left behind and get the unit prepared for showing? How and what money can I sue to recover? Rent for the rest of his lease? Rent until the unit is rented again up to the end of the lease? Repair and cleaning fees? What about the utilities for any amount of time? Do I need to find out his current residence to be able to proceed with this? And most importantly, what is my chance of recouping any money?
Any advice or additional information for how I should proceed in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for all the help.
