All Forum Posts by: Tiffany N.

@Max T. & @Thomas S.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I must say it looks much better with a fresh coat of paint. I don't think I'll have any problems getting renters. It was just shocking to see the mess. Once it's rented I'll be back in my happy place.

**UPDATE**

About 2 1/2 months into the game.

My tenant is out. When we went to serve her, she had already moved. She left a huge mess. I had a meltdown of epic proportions (just short of hyperventilating). It took me a few days to regain my composure. 

She poured cooking oil on the carpet, pulled the bathroom mirror off the wall, I'm not sure what she did to the bathroom sink but it may need to be replaced. She left a lot of junk. Not to mention, she wasn't the domestic type. I'm so glad this is over. It took me a few days to calm down. I knew this wasn't going to be easy however I wasn't prepared to go through this so early in the game. 

Now I'm picking up the pieces. New paint throughout, new laminate flooring (no more carpet for me) and dealing with a handy man. (SIGH) 

I will feel better when it has been relet.

@Andrew Glenn, 

Over the weekend, I saw signs of her vacating the property. In Michigan, I can't legally take possession until she has been served by and an officer of the court. The first time around, it took 3 days so I expect her to be out, legally, by the end of the week. However, she's been moving stuff late at night so she may be gone sooner.

She was parked on the front lawn yesterday and there were fast food bags by the front door. I hope that's not a sign of what I will find when I enter. Her place has been relatively neat every time I've been there.

 Absolutely not. In this case, the tenant had ample opportunity to request a payment plan or go through DHS (social services) to get assistance. The fact that she didn't, until the last minute, tells me she didn't need help (and the fact that DHS would only kick in about $250), tells me she was not paying her rent for some other reason other than financial difficulty. She was playing a game and she lost. To give her money, would be a reward for bad behavior.

The court experience wasn't that bad. In Michigan, its pretty cut and dry, did you pay the full amount by the deadline? Yes or no? If the answer is no, the tenant needs to move out. Filing the motion (bogus motion that it was) bought the tenant two extra weeks, but the result is the same, she has to move. The only thing I would do different would be to never alert the tenant in advance that the sheriff is coming to evict them. In that time, she went to court and filed the motion, which delayed her eviction. As a result, I'm probably not going to have another tenant until mid September or later.

 I felt really crappy on the way to court and afterward. I've been giving my self pep talks all week. This is a business and we have a contract, she broke it and there are consequences. I still feel a bit crappy because she has a kid. But I have goals and I can't attain them with a tenant that doesn't pay rent.

*Update* We appeared in front of the judge today for my tenants motion to dismiss and stop her eviction. I won. In summary, no matter what she paid, she didn't pay on time.  The judge is resubmitting the writ to the process server so she can be served. It took 4 days for them to contact me before so I  expect she will be out by then end of next week.

@Christine Mwai, I would have been extremely upset if I was told I had to start over because I accepted partial payment. Apparently, in Michigan you can accept partial payments and proceed with eviction. Thank goodness.

My only concern now is what condition she leaves the unit. She seemed pretty bitter.

I went down to the court to pick up what she filed rather than waiting for it in the mail. She is saying she paid part and expects social service to pay the other part. The part she did pay, she paid after the deadline. And, as of just now, there is no payment  pending in my vendor account with social service.

@Jassem A.

She was served with the writ on Friday. She some how managed to get a judge to stop it by 8:30 am today (Monday). Our next court date is Aug 26th.

I filed the writ to evict my tenant and guess what?????

SHE'S FIGHTING IT!!!

Yes, she didn't have money to pay rent but came up with money to put in escrow to fight eviction...go figure. Anyone have experience with this?

Help! I'm filling out my Writ and question 2 says...

No payment has been made on the judgement or no rent has been received since the date of judgement, except the sum of _$$.$$ received under the following conditions:_____________

What goes after "following conditions"?