All Forum Posts by: Dan Gustavson

Hey everyone - **update** After a stern but professional email that I sent to her she is now communicating and has applied for the rental assistance, we hope to have answers soon on the amount. Appreciate all of your guidance and input, love this community!

I have researched Utah laws for serving and it states anyone over the age of 18 can serve the tenant by certified mail, in person, or by posting it on the door if noone answers.

@Ola Dantis - Thank you for the advice Sir, I appreciate it. If it comes down to an eviction I will absolutely try cash for keys. I've heard all about it in all the BP books I've read and is a good option and less messy. I am sending her one last email to try to re-establish communication before I serve her with a notice, hoping for a response.

@Brian Ploszay - I have worked up one last email that I will send her Monday morning, if she doesn't respond back same day, she will find a pay or vacate notice on her door. We told her we would work with her then she went silent on us, so strange to ask the landlord for help then ignore them. Thanks for the advice!

@John Teachout - If it comes down to us serving her a notice, I hope it works that magic you speak of. Thank you, Sir!

@William - Yes, I've informed her that she needs to apply for the assistance but she has blown it off for over a week now and then stopped responding to us. I've read that I can facilitate this process, but it requires a lot of personal financial information that they will need to fill out on the application. I can only do so much without cooperation from her. 

Oh wow.. I'm so sorry it's so difficult in Virginia. Thank you for all the input and I wish you good luck as well, take care!

@Rossi Rose - I did see the laws you mentioned while doing some investigative research yesterday, thank you for mentioning them. It does state that I can apply for the rental assistance on behalf of the tenant but that would require assistance from the tenant as the application asks for some personal financial information. We are planning to try to make contact again Monday, and if she doesn't cooperate, then we will send a pay or vacate notice.

Thank you for your input!!

@Brianne - Her lease is up April 30th, so two months away. That's another issue I'm running into, if I don't renew her lease then I don't really have time to work out a payment plan before she would have to move out.. and that's if she is even willing to communicate. My wife and I came up with a plan to send a compassionate but stern text/email to her Monday saying we will work with her these last two months but the balance will be due by April, otherwise it will come out of her deposit. If she doesn't communicate Monday, she will find an eviction notice Tuesday. Great advice on mentioning the holdover issue, I will put that in the letter if it comes to that. Hoping she communicates and we don't have to go down that road, just want to be prepared if it does. Will also be calling our attorney Monday. 

Thank you for sharing your experience! 

Thanks Theresa - I was planning on working out a payment plan with her and letting her know that it will all come due at some point, but she hasn't been responsive.

Hey Community - I have some questions and would love some guidance on what I can/cannot do as a landlord during the moratorium (in Salt Lake City). Feb 1st my tenant paid 2/3rd of the monthly rent and then sent us a text stating she had missed out on work due to covid and would like a reduced rent (she asked for a $650 reduction) for the next three months, then after that, she would resume paying and sign a new least when the current one expires the end of April. Neither of us mentioned the CARES/CDC moratorium in our brief conversation. However, I do know she is supposed to send me a signed declaration and has to go through a list of other qualifications in order to be protected, she has not done any of the required guidelines. I said I would be willing to work with her but had some questions and asked if she had applied for the rental assistance program, she said she would look into it. I asker her three days later what the status was and she said she would do it that day. I asked again the next day and now she has gone silent. Figured she would be all over that rent relief program as it's free money for her and I still get full rent.. win win. Regardless, I will be sending her a non-renewal letter as I won't be signing another lease with her.

What are my options here, I know that it's in my favor that the annual lease she signed is expiring soon, but can I serve her with a Pay or Vacate eviction notice right now since she hasn't provided me with any information that she's struggling other than a brief text message or does that break the moratorium guidelines? I am hoping she responds back to me this weekend, I would like to work out the situation rather than it get ugly.

Appreciate your guidance, I'm dealing with all of this while on a deployment in Iraq and have never had to deal with possible eviction issues, so thank you!