Originally posted by @Andrea Weule:
We have a property in Crown Point that was put into a 3 year lease with option to purchase in June of 2017. The tenant put down $3,000 option and paid $1700/month for the rent. They were also responsible for all utilities, renters insurance, maintenance and repairs. I continued to pay HOA, insurance and taxes to avoid any major issues or liens on the property.
The tenant was hit or miss on rent and was always wanting us to fix minor issues with the house. We did agree to clean the sewer line, but held strong on minor maintenance issues with the home. The tenant refused to transfer the utilities for several months so I kept adding that up to additional back rent. The tenant finally paid the rent via an online credit card payment to catch up. As it turns out it was a "friends" credit card and so they filed a fraud claim and the money was then pulled from our accounts.
At that point we went to eviction. As soon as we were approved for eviction they tenants filed for bankruptcy. They filed it incorrectly and the courts dismissed it. An Order of Execution of the eviction was entered shortly later...but the tenants refiled for Bankruptcy later in the day. We are now have a bankruptcy attorney working on it along with our traditional RE attorney that does our evictions.
We're 6 months into this and I'd love to hear what others have to say. We're open to any tricks to move this along
When was the bankruptcy filed? Was it Chapt 13 or Chapt 7? Is the bankrupt represented by an attorney or are they Pro Se? (Pro Per in some jurisdictions) Have they filed their statements of debt and income yet? If a Chapt 13 have they filed their Plan?
They must stay current on all payments after filing or you can evict them based on that. You may need to get a court order, but that is doable. It normally has to be docketed on the court calendar with either a 30 day advance or 45 day advance depending on local rules. Judges do not like people playing with the court but if they are Pro Se, a GREAT deal of leeway is given to the debtor. Expect this to take 6 months from the time of filing if the debtor has a viable source of income and plays by court rules, or 60 days to an unknown time frame if the debtor is crafty but has no attorney. There are a considerable number of delay tactics.
Usually the debtors have to establish a new account with electric and water, which are allowed to take larger deposits. That means the debtor's out of pocket expenses are probably larger than they expected. You have the right to contact the clerk of the court to check on things. And of course, you are going to file a claim. If things get way out of hand, you file an adversarial proceeding, but just hope it doesn't come to that.
I would definitely get the "As it turns out it was a "friends" credit card and so they filed a fraud claim and the money was then pulled from our accounts." into the court record when asking fir the dismissal of the automatic stay.
And be there in court, when the judge asks the debtor about that little escapade. Priceless.
If anyone from the court or police ask if you want to file charges, your answer is "yes".
