Insights Into How Our Legal System Works

What To Do If You're A Landlord With A Non-Paying Tenant Living On Your Property

1 March 2023 by Yolanda Lane

As a landlord, you may have a stringent process that involves conducting an initial background check and credit report on applicants interested in renting one of your properties. However, even when you take every precaution, situations can arise that lead to you dealing with non-paying tenants. Knowing how to overcome this situation is important if you currently have a tenant who has failed to pay their rent for several months. Working with an eviction lawyer who can represent you in this situation and help you get your property back is vital. Otherwise, you will continue to lose out on money.

Keep Track of Your Communications with the Tenant

Start by keeping track of everything regarding this non-paying tenant, including a lack of checks provided to you for rent and any communications you have with them. Instead of speaking to them over the phone, create a paper trail by discussing their failure to pay the rent via email, text, and even snail mail. If they respond, keep these responses in your inbox and print them out, using the information as evidence during the eviction process.

Serve a Notice Informing the Tenant of Your Intention

The next step is to serve your tenants with an eviction notice informing them of your intention to evict them from the property because they've failed to pay their rent for quite a while. Although some landlords may be willing to work things out with tenants at this point, if you've tried unsuccessfully to communicate with the tenant and have not received any response or reason for their lack of payment, you can serve this notice as a direct warning.

Enlist the Help of an Eviction Lawyer Who Will Guide You Through the Process

Trying to evict someone from the property can be time-consuming, so it's best to have legal representation to offer guidance throughout this ordeal. An eviction lawyer understands the laws surrounding landlord and tenant rights and will make sure you comply with the laws while focusing on getting your property back to you. The lawyer can help you file a lawsuit in the courtroom with the goal of getting a judgment that would require the tenant to move out of the property by a set date. If you have any questions about evicting your tenant and what the process will entail, your lawyer will answer those questions and offer the best legal advice.

You may never have expected to be in a situation where you must evict a tenant. However, an eviction is imminent if they're not communicating with you and have failed to pay their rent for several months. The best way to go through this process is to hire an eviction lawyer to ensure you take all the proper steps to get this done and move on.

Contact an eviction lawyer for more information. 

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