Server's Corner

Reasons to Evict a Tenant

As a landlord, you have the right to evict a tenant renting from you, but you do not have the legal rights to evict your tenants for just any reason. Reasons such as not getting along or are messy are not legally right for eviction. This article will discuss 4 reasons to evict a tenant.

Violation of Lease or Rental Agreement

If the lease you’ve agreed upon has a “no pets” clause and you’ve found that the tenant has a pet or pets then you may be able to start the eviction process. Other reasons could be unapproved subletting, many loud parties, etc. An important side note is to know that despite your tenant violating the lease agreement, as the landlord you need to keep up your end of the agreement. Therefore, you need to still pay certain utilities or repairs if part of the agreement. If you do not keep your end of the agreement you could open yourself up to a small claims case by neglecting your contractual responsibilities.

Rent Not Paid on Time

First, some cities allow a buffer period for rent payment. However, if a tenant who constantly is tardy can be evicted. To evict your tenant properly you will need to create a paper trail. You can do this by sending the tenant a Late Rent Notice and keeping a copy for yourself. If your case would ever go to court, you need to be prepared and ready to show proof you’ve given the proper notice.

Property Used for Illegal Purposes

Clearly, any illegal purposes being used in or on your property is a legal reason to evict the tenant. Any illegal purposes such as, but not limited to, the selling of narcotics, any crime related activity, public indecency (in some states), etc.

Damages to Property

No damage from the wear and tear of living in a place can be a cause of eviction, such as scuffs on the floor. Real damage to the property outside of the wear and tear of living is a legal cause of eviction. The tearing down of a wall, hitting the garage with their car, hoarding, etc, can be reasons for eviction.

Of course, if the tenant has made plans to repair their damages and has cleared the fix/changes with you as the landlord then they cannot be evicted.

With any of these reasons you as the landlord has decided to evict a tenant and you need to serve them with an eviction notice, contact Roland Investigations today.

By Roland Investigations 10-19-2017