Not going to beat a dead horse as the replies here have been spot on. All I can offer is camaraderie as I am in a similar situation. If you want to read my story I will type it below but be warned it is long and I will somehow forget to type some details.
TLDR: We are in this together and it will be frustrating but we will make it through. Those of us who learn from mistakes will be prepared much better next time.
Story Time!
Disclaimer: I do take full responsibility and have the reserves to make it through this.
Purchased a property at the end of 2019 and inherited a tenant who at the time could not work due to injury but was about to go back. He did go back to work part-time initially and eventually full time within the first month.
Previous owner provided a monthly lease and while he had no proof of payment gave me his word the tenant was current. This lack of proof was negotiated into the sales price and lead to an accepted lower offer by 3 months rent. To this day both the tenant and previous owner swear payments were made.
In an attempt to be an understanding landlord I offered to waive late payments for 3 months but made it clear after 3 months (Feb 1,2020) late fees would follow as was outlined in the lease agreement. The tenant and I sat down and went through my standard 12 month lease line by line prior to signing. All 3 of these months would have had a late fee so I knew things were headed the wrong way. I had cracked open the door that could slammed in my face later. I take full responsibility but with a child involved and it being the holiday season I try to be understanding in lower income areas like this.
Okay here comes Feb 1 which means late fees are in full effect and of course rent is late and the tenant is notified. After being served a 10 day notice to pay or quit, the tenant immediately paid except for $50 which he said would be paid the following month. He also sent me a screenshot of his checking account that had a -$6 balance to prove he gave all he could. No idea if this was a legit account but the date and time were accurate in the screenshot.
Okay here comes March and it came in like a lion. Not only was rent not paid but it was not paid because the tenant claims his girlfriend cheated on him, drained his bank account, and is now living with another man. I explained that this does not change our agreement and the tenant promised rent would be paid with the past due amount when he received his income tax which would be in his account March 6th. March 6th came and no payment and no response to my messages about the payment so another 10 day notice was posted on his front door. The tenant confirmed receipt of this notice via text message later that day.
Now every couple days I would either drive by the area just to see how things were going. On day 5 I stopped and knocked on the door to figure out what the plan was since I was getting no response in messages or calls. To my surprise the tenant's girlfriend and child were at the property but the tenant was not. They are both also on the lease but the surprise was that I was under the impression she had moved out. She was packing up the apartment and had mentioned they were all moving out to a new place that was going to be in her name. When I asked if they would be out by the end of the 10 days she mentioned she was not aware she had to be out that quick and was planning on being out by the end of the month. When I explained the situation, immediate tear fall.
The next 15 minutes of my life were spent listening to all of the problems this relationship was having. I'll name a few that stuck out but be certain there are many problems in that relationship.
1. The tenant has a scratch-off lottery ticket gambling problem and often comes home with "many" tickets in his pockets. Tosses one to his girlfriend and claims he only bought 2. Apparently they have argued over his dishonesty about this multiple times.
2. The tenant never told his girlfriend about the 10 day notice but did tell her they would move out whenever they wanted because the news is saying all evictions are being frozen and there is nothing the landlord can do about it whether he pays or not. At this moment he was incorrect but we would find out shortly this would become true.
3. Prior to all of this the tenant and I have got along great and thus his child knows my name and often talks to me. This particular day he wanted to show me his new video game. What he didn't realize was upon entering the room all I would notice is the brand new 55" flat screen TV so we now know where some of that income tax went to.
Finally, let's summarize the last 30 days. An eviction has been filed but due to the virus it had to be mailed when the courthouse is 3 blocks down from the property and they have no drop box (I called). To be transparent I did not mail the eviction until March 20th so I cost myself a few days there. However the court did not file my case until April 1st after confirming they received my complaint on March 23rd and took payment on the 26th. The original court case was set for April 14th and then delayed until May 12th. I was not surprised by the delay but I was a bit frustrated that the second notice was received within 24 hours of the first so there was no time to even let the tenant panic and move out prior to the date. He found out immediately he had an extra full month.
I stop by the area periodically as I have other tenants nearby and it is the only way the tenant will respond. My texts are calls are ignored. Since this process has started I have received multiple noise complaints of arguing all hours of the night and learned that the tenant is smoking in the property. Upon contacting the local government I get told that their hands are tied and cannot evict for any reason and that my best bet is to call higher up the chain of command but they made it clear that if I accept any amount of payment the process will be void.
The tenant was also laid off the first week of April so with unemployment and the stimulus check he will actually be making more money over the next few months than he was prior. That detail stings a bit considering I cannot accept any of it if he were to offer it and I will lose at least a few months of my reserves but that is why they are there so I'm blessed for that.
I originally got into REI because my area has a ton of slumlords and it became my goal to give people a decent place to live at a fair price. With this particular tenant I have connected him with multiple agencies in the area who assist with lower income housing. One of my other units are actually section 8 funded. He never followed through with any of them after the initial discussion.
A lot of lessons learned on this one but at 29 years old, I will definitely learn and make plenty more.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read all of this. Stay healthy and take care!
