Nonresponsive Tenant
I am a relatively new landlord and was hoping someone could key me in on proper procedure, as I have never been through this experience before and am hoping to avoid a mistake. I own a condo that I have rented out for the last year or so. For the most part no major problems….
I am a relatively new landlord and was hoping someone could key me in on proper procedure, as I have never been through this experience before and am hoping to avoid a mistake. I own a condo that I have rented out for the last year or so. For the most part no major problems. I signed a new lease with a new tenant starting on September 15th. He has always been a bit of a flake but was always communicative before. It was more of a situation where I had to remind him to pay his rent. Now he has disappeared on me. He has not paid December rent and is not responding to voicemails, emails or texts. How should I move forward from here? I want to be smart here and not make a mistake out of anger. I live about a half mile from the condo and am tempted to go over there to see what is going on. Bad idea?
he sounds pretty cool. and you sound like you’re a little uptight. back when i was renting i used to pay my rent late every once in a while just to keep the owner honest. it’s the 11th and you’ve already contacted him like 5 times? i might avoid you too if i thought you were stalking me.
To Legion; Your instructions relate to a holdover, not a non payment.
To deepBTUz I do not recommend starting an action without an attorney, not just any attorney, you need an attorney who spends his or her days at the L & T Court at 141 Livingston Street and is familiar with the judges, their moods and quirks. Anything less, you can end up losing lots of time and money.
I like to give a tenant the benefit of doubt while still doing my due diligence. I would stick a piece of paper between the door and the jamb or tape a piece of clear tape (something not visible) at the bottom portion of the tenants door taping the door to the jamb and check the following day if it has disengaged, this will tell you if the tenant is occupying the apartment.
If the tenant is occupying the apartment, I would visit the L & T Court at 141 Livingston Street and check the public terminal or ask the clerk to check for any prior cases against this tenant. Many of the deadbeat tenants go from apartment to apartment, pay the first one or two months and end up staying for long periods manipulating the system. If you locate prior cases, consider yourself lucky, ask the clerk for the files and go through them page by page. You will instantly know who you are up against. You can make copies of the documents in the file. You may end up hiring an attorney who represented the landlord against this very tenant on a prior eviction. I am sure the tenant will not appreciate running into the same lawyer more than once.
If there are no prior cases, you are looking at a 2-3 month period from beginning to end, that is if the tenant does not file an answer and does not impede the process. Otherwise, depending of how well the tenant or their attorney can manipulate the system, it can drag on much longer. If the tenant hires an attorney, I would opt to forgive the past rent and maybe even throw in some extra bucks to induce the tenant to sign a stipulation to vacate by a date certain.
Good luck,
To Lo Kee, who wrote “It’s been years since I did any work [at Housing Court], but I am sure nothing has changed.
I can recall proceedings where…”
I’m writing a magazine story about NYC Housing Court as it relates to co-ops and condos. I need anecdotes (“horror stories,” in the vernacular) from both tenant and board perspective, and you seem as though as you might have some instructive and practical stories and insights.
If this is of interest, please e-mail flovece [at] habitatmag.com at your earliest convenience. I’m researching the story over the next few days, and starting to write it next week.
I don’t understand why people keep saying that the housing court is so pro=tenant when any landlord can find out whether a prospective tenant has been to housing court and decide not to rent to that tenant based on that history.
Glad to hear that Housing Court judges are not cuddly. I like no B/S, Judge Judith Sheindlin types. I always get the impression that Housing Court is biased in favor of tenants, which is a major disincentive to ethical people who want to invest in rental real estate, after all you want to be fair without taking the risk you’re going to be fleeced by a tenant with a court system acting as head cheerleader.
it goes something like this;
-send letter after 10 days, certified, requesting rent.
-prior to the end of the month, prepare a “30 day” eviction notice, make sure it’s delivered before the end of the month or else you will have to wait another month, without rent. Have the notice delivered by process server, there’s a good one on Atlantic near the courts. Cost about $100.
-file a Petition and Notice of Petition with the housing court(the court clerk will then provide a court date), then have these papers served on the tenant by the process server.
Cost, again, about $100.
-go to court with your case clearly printed, dates, times, copies of served papers. If they don’t show, the judge will issue an official eviction paper to post allowing a certain amount of time, after which you contact a City Marshall who arrives with a locksmith to evict the tenant officially. The City Marshall is paid $100. The tenant may get a order for due cause and claim something or other. This may buy him another month with the judge to prepare a case as to why he’s not paying. Make sure everything is in order on your part. No funny business. Burden of proof is still on the tenant for any problems, which should have been communicated to you, hence the need for good notes on your part.
If the tenant shows up, he will have to explain to the judge why he’s not paying. They are not as cuddly as in the past, they tend to be no BS nowadays.
An agreement may be reached between you and the tenant before the judge’s hearing, the court clerk usually tries to work out an agreement, if there is one to be made.
Don’t be shy about going to court, you OWN this property. You are under no obligation to subsidize this guy if he doesn’t want to pay you. Don’t take it personally. In the end, you may be out 2-3 months rent. He will have a court eviction on his records to follow him around for several years.
This can all be done by lawyers as well, 800-2000K, depending on court appearances. Do it yourself cost about 300-400$
Good Luck.
Long ago I wrote down from a post in a Brownstoner forum the name of a lawyer on Smith st. named Marc Aronson. The poster said he knew his stuff very well as far as representing landlords, though I have never used him, as all the lawyers I used so far were based in Queens. Might be a good start for you. Lots of good advice above. Good luck.
That is really excellent advice vanburen. I’m filing it away in my lttle brain for future use. Thanks. It should be very helpful,
Thank you vanburen. Sound advice.