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?
It can take a very long time, although it does not have to and does not always.
NYC housing court is notoriously tenant friendly. It’s been years since I did any work there, but I am sure nothing has changed.
I can recall proceedings where tenants would not pay rent for three months during the pendancy of the proceeding, then come to court with two months in moneys orders and a promise to pay the remaining arrears… three months later we were back in court, same tenant, same situation. This went on with some problem tenants for years.
Hopefully you will not find yourself in such a situation.
Best of luck to you.
It can take a very long time, although it does not have to and does not always.
NYC housing court is notoriously tenant friendly. It’s been years since I did any work there, but I am sure nothing has changed.
I can recall proceedings where tenants would not pay rent for three months during the pendancy of the proceeding, then come to court with two months in moneys orders and a promise to pay the remaining arrears… three months later we were back in court, same tenant, same situation. This went on with some problem tenants for years.
Hopefully you will not find yourself in such a situation.
Best of luck to you.
do you know the tenant’s employer? try calling them at work. or maybe someone else in the office can let you know if they lost their job. also, stopping by in person might be a good idea. that’s the single person’s nightmare, dead or incapicitated in your apartment for days before anyone notices. even worse nightmare if you have pets.
Thank you Lo Kee. That sounds right to me. If I had to evict how long the process on average take? I’d like to keep him in the apartment but if he is going to default I don’t want him there any longer than he has to be.
Do not change the locks.
Changing the locks is illegal “self help” and will subject you to civil libaility to the tune of triple damages. It is tantamount to illegally taking posession of the premises.
See
http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/pdfs/tenantsguide.pdf
The only way to take posession is through an eviction proceeding.
You need to create a record, in writing, of everything that is transpiring in the event you do need to bring an eviction proceediong to recover posession.
Send your tenant a letter that cleary states:
1) balance currectly due and how long past due
2) the date or dates you have tried to contact him/her
3) any prior failures to pay or slow pays
4) your intention to commence legal proceedings if the rent is not recieved by a date certain in the future, and state the date by which, if not recieved, you intend to start an action.
Rent was do on the 1st.
Documentation is key. When you send e-mails, request a delivery and read receipt – you’ll need them to prove he got the correspondence. If you are going to send a holdover notice, you’ll need to send it by certified mail, delivery receipt requested. How late is the rent, indeed is it late? If rent is due on the 15th, it’s not late, if on the 1st, it is late enough to start getting your ducks in a row. If you don’t get a check for the rent within a week, you might need to contact a real estate lawyer.
Like everyone said, he may be busy, which is no excuse, but in this market you don’t want to be looking for a new tenant. Softly, softly is a good approach. You might also suggest that he set up an automatic payment with his bank.
I would like to believe there is some extenuating circumstance (illness, travel etc.), but have been in business long enough to know generally if it looks like something is happening than it’s happening. In this day and age I have a hard time believing that even if the guy is extremely busy or traveling that he couldn’t take the thirty seconds to reply to an email or text message. It seems frighteningly irresponsible to me. So the general consensus is that even if this guy is definitely dodging me and in default of his December rent I should do nothing until January?
Why don’t you slip a note under the door? That seems simple enough. “Hey…left a vm, sent an email, and a text regarding December rent. Wanted to make sure everything is ok. Also, if you are having any issues please contact me at _____ Thanks and enjoy your day..” Keep it easy.