All Forum Posts by: Shawn York

@Mike D'Arrigo Thanks. I've reached out to the lawyer mentioned above and they assured me that ALL evictions are under suspension (at least in Indianapolis)
The best I can do is get them all the paperwork so they can file as soon as the suspension order is lifted. The judge in this township is very tenant friendly, but at least I'll be able to show that this started before and is not related to Covid-19.

Any recommendations for an eviction attorney in Indianapolis (Marion County) that doesn't charge an arm and a leg?

Yes I know they're on hold right now, but I think we can still file and just need to wait until this whole mess is over before it actually goes to court. In either case I want to have the ball already rolling when the time comes.
This whole process started before the COVID-19 thing so no comments from the peanut gallery on how heartless it is to be doing this right now. :-)
10-day pay or quit was delivered on Mar. 9th. and I've been told excuse after excuse after excuse on I've got the money but I can't make it to the bank or it's in the mail etc.

@Jason L. My understanding is that rent is still due. It's not "optional" What it means (I think) is that if someone does not pay they can be evicted, but not until <90 days in your example>Best thing I can say is be proactive and reach out to your tenants ASAP and work with them as best as you can. Will people take advantage of this, you bet. People take advantage of things all the time - this is nothing new. The ones that do will get a free ride for a few months but they're cutting their throats when the time comes that you kick them out and they need a new place. It sucks, but it is what it is right now.
Lastly, in your 90 day example, I don't see anyone being evicted until at least 180 days because I fully expect a massive amount of evictions to overload the courts when the 90-day period is up. This is why I recommend working with your tenants as much as you can. It'll be a win-win for both of you in the long run.

@Rachid B. I am in exactly the same boat. I delivered my 10-Day pay or quit 8-days ago and now I'm stuck. I plan on working with all my tenants except this one. When this is lifted, she will be gone ASAP.

@Brittany Vigneault You're "fully leveraged now" (debt) and wondering if pulling out cash from your HELOC (more debt) is a good idea? Regardless of how well you think your cash flow is or might be, you never know. Things are HIGHLY in flux right now. I'd jump over to the thread "Be Careful If You Are Overleveraged" and read through that before you make a final decision.

So... It appears that the foreclosure and eviction suspension may only apply to HUD owned properties. Anyone have any details? I still plan on working with my tenants, and suspect that Indy will join the whole host of other cities that are suspending evictions, but looking to see if anyone has any more info on this.

Am I missing something? The mandate was to suspend evictions and foreclosures, not to suspend rent or mortgage payments. I've got some section 8 and some fixed income (SS) tenants. Any others that are affected, I'll work with because as others have mentioned, losing good tenants that have been affected by this mess doesn't help them or me. If they get too far behind the curve and can't stick to the arrangements we've made, then I'll evict when the time comes.. but I'm positive there's going to be a massive backlog come May 1, so I'll definitely be looking to work with them as much as possible.

if it's a situation where someone simply isn't paying because there's no threat of eviction, then it is what it is and I'll just have to evict as soon as that option is open again.

@Kamran Rahman - I would guess that your only course of action would be eviction and going after them in court after this suspension period expired... good luck with that. I can see SUCH a backlog of eviction cases with all this. Depending on your lease you can keep the security deposit for the back rent, but it seems like any landlord in this case is going to end up on the losing end of things as far as what's owed vs what they end up getting. 
I'm not an expert, this is just my opinion.

@Julie Marquez
Sorry, no clue - but my best guess is "doubtful" News story I saw said all evictions.
With everything being in the state that it's in now, I'm guessing no court is staffed enough to look at the differences between non-payment and other things. Unfortunately I think this decision was sort of knee-jerk and a blanket statement and doesn't discern from one reason to the next. Eviction means eviction and anyone is going to say "oh well she can just wait"
Having said that, I'd see what I could do about calling and asking. I would guess you could still give the M2M tenant their notice and have it take effect 5/1 - but again, I'd call to make sure. (good luck getting through and getting an answer since all this just happened today I'm betting there are many questions floating around... just like this one)
No link, just the news story I saw. Tried pasting a link but didn't work - Just search eviction suspension and you'll find several stories - Good Luck!

@Monica Johnson
FYI: Bounced it off a friend - he recommended adding something to the effect that if they do not reach out now then you will assume there is not any issue and will not retroactively work with them after they have missed a payment or are short.
So I will be adding that