eviction

This post is about my rental property in Philadelphia. In this post, I talk about my landlord experience – the good, the bad, and the ugly. All my posts that are related to the rental property can be found in the Rental Property section, including the bad tenant saga series).

As I have previously mentioned, I am currently going through an eviction process. The tenant called me up to talk about settlement.

I told a lot of people about my situation. Now many people know about my rental nightmare and follow my updates on this tenant saga, as if I am part of a drama TV series, except it is my real life.

Many of my colleagues find it very interesting that tenants can find loop holes to stay in someone else’s house for months without paying rent. One of my teammate said to me, “If they don’t pay rent in India, they would have been [physically] thrown out in the streets [without any legal consequences].” If only I were in India or pretty much any other country, these tenants would have been out the door faster than they could think of an excuse.

One of the people I talked to and helped me understand the situation better was my manager at work. My manager owns a two-family rental property and had experience dealing with bad tenants. He had already filed two evictions. I told him about my situation with the rental property. He suggested finding a good lawyer who can take care of all the paperwork and answer all your questions.

He mentioned that owning a rental house and like owning a business; in fact it is a business. When managing a rental property, it involves a lot of time and effort. He said that I would have to be more “hands-on” and would sometimes need to take measures to ensure things get done.

He yelled at me for being so soft with the tenants and said that I should take charge and not let them bully me around. He verbally knocked sense into me. He reminded me that I am the owner of the property and I have the right to get my house back if they don’t pay rent. And that I should not fear them or second think about losing the case in court. After the conversation, my head became clear. I thought my manager made a good point. Since I owned the property, I should take house back and not be frightened by the bad tenant’s threats. It is my property and I am going to evict them and get my house back.

Below is a detailed account of some of the events that occurred.

Fri, 1/02/2009:

Mon, 1/05/2009:

Tue, 1/06/2009:

Wed, 1/07/2009:

Tue, 1/13/2009:

Wed, 1/14/2009:

Mon, 1/19/2009:

Wed, 1/21/2009:

Thu, 1/22/2009:

Sat, 1/24/2009:

Stay tune for more updates.

Read more:
Rental Property Update February 2009
Rental Property Update December 2008

This post is about my rental property in Philadelphia. In this post, I talk about my landlord experience – the good, the bad, and the ugly. All my posts that are related to the rental property can be found in the Rental Property section, including the bad tenant saga series).

There were a lot of things that happened in December with the rental property. During the beginning of the month, I received a notice from the water company that the water bill was past due. Since the water bill is in my name and is tied to the property, I will ultimately have to pay for the dues.

My tenants reported yet another issue in the house and demanded repairs (details below). My real estate agent suggested that I fix the damages as soon as possible and I did just that.

They had owed me 6 months of rent payment plus other fees. I followed up with the eviction process and showed up in court to receive a ruling against them. However, towards the end of the month, they filed a petition against me and asked for another court appearance.

Below is a detailed account of some of the events that occurred.

Fri, 12/05/2008:

Sat, 12/06/2008:

Sun, 12/07/2008:

Fri, 12/12/2008:

Fri, 12/30/2008:

The attorney office and I had been exchanging phone calls during the month. Sometimes they were not very understanding of the situation and were slow to respond to my calls. It was very frustrating to go through the trouble with the tenant and not get the necessary help from the attorney. As of the end of December, we had to wait for another court hearing date and the attorney said that they would notify me once they have the date of the court hearing.

The saga continues in the next monthly update, Rental Property Update January 2009.

This post is about my rental property in Philadelphia. In this post, I talk about my landlord experience – the good, the bad, and the ugly. All my posts that are related to the rental property can be found in the Rental Property section, including the bad tenant saga series).

Dealing with bad tenants can cause headaches, and that is an understatement in my case. Below is an account of the struggle I have been going through.

On Wednesday night, October 29, my tenant, Bill called me. I asked him to either pay up all the money he owed me or leave the house immediately (and he would still have to pay the amount he owed to me). He said that he had a divorce court case that would take place on the following Wednesday, November 5th, and by the end of the next Wednesday he would have a clear picture of what he will do. If he decided to stay, he said that he would pay me all the money he owed me and he would like to renew the lease for another year. Otherwise, if he decided to leave, he would pay me all the money he owed me and leave on a good note.

I was highly skeptical about this story. I had heard many stories from him and he had lost all credibility. I did not want to expose his stories. Instead, I played along and told him to give me a final answer on Wednesday.

He also told me that he had some money for me, a check for $400. He said that he would put it in the mail the very next day and I should receive it soon. Again, another one of his games. I have not received that check for more than a week (still not yet as of this writing date).

On Friday, October 31st at 9:00 pm, I received a call from my tenant. He reported that some water pipes in the bathroom were leaking and the house was flooded. I was hesitant to do any repair work. I knew the leaked water pipes would damage the property, and I had to fix it no matter what, but I had hope this would force my tenant out of the house. I told him that I would need to speak to my real estate agent.

On Saturday, both Bill and his wife called me. They said that the sewage pipes were backed up and all the sewage waste and liquids were flooding the second floor and leaking down to the first floor and basement. There were poop all over the place.

On Sunday, I called my real estate agent, Eden and told him the whole story. Eden said that he would take a look at the house and if it was really bad, I should fix it. I told him that I wanted the tenant to leave. I thought maybe this flood would force him out of the house. Eden insisted that I should fix the water pipes because the water floods would damage my floors, carpet, wood and ceilings.

Eden went to the house on the following Monday and told me that the sewage pipe had clogged up and all the waste in the pipes had backed up and the fluids were flooding the second floor, down to the living room.

Eden had to hire an emergency plumber to fix the sewage pipes. I was still response for the bill. Bill paid the plumber with his credit card, and would deduct the payment off the rent that he owed me.

I was tired of the stories and tired of dealing with my tenant. I did not want to speak to them any more. I would focus on removing them from my property.

On Monday, November 10, I mailed all the information to an attorney who would file an eviction application on my tenants.

On Friday, November 21, I received a letter for court hearing at 8:45 AM on Dec 12, 2008.

On Monday, November 24, the attorney office returned my call from last Friday.

On Tuesday, November 25, I spoke to the attorney office again. They told me that I would need to have someone to represent me in court. I asked my real estate agent and offered him $50 for the time. He would be able to make it since he does not have work during the morning.

On Friday, November 28, I mailed my real estate agent a copy of the court hearing notice and a copy of the latest water bill.

On Saturday, November 22, I received a water bill from the Water Company. The bill was 2 months overdue, and the total outstanding balance is now $148.32. My tenant was responsible for the water bill but he did not pay it. I thought I would leave the water bill alone, and let the water company shut off the water, but I was concerned the lack of payments may show up on my credit report.

This month has been hectic. I still have not received that check he promised on October 29. I can no longer expect any checks from him. We will wait for the results of the court hearing on Friday, December 12th.

Summary
10/29/2008 – Spoke to tenant, tenant refused to leave
10/31/2008 – Tenant reported broken pipes
11/02/2008 – Report broken pipes to real estate agent
11/03/2008 – Real estate agent, Eden visited my rental property
Hired a plumber and fixed broken pipes
11/10/2008 – Sent mail to an attorney and file eviction
11/21/2008 – Received mail notice of the court hearing
11/24/2008 – Spoke to the attorney
11/25/2008 – Hired real estate agent, Eden to show up in court to represent me

*The names are changed to protect the individual’s identity.

The saga continues in the next monthly update, Rental Property Update December 2008.

Continued from Philadelphia Tenants Saga…

Two weeks later after the last phone conversation with my tenant and his wife, I received a phone call from my tenant. He said that they have the $400 check for me. They were supposed to send the check one week ago, but I let it go. He also said that he would send me the full payment for the water fees. I received 2 checks three days later and deposited them. One check was for $400 (the second part of the rent for one month) and $134 (the full payment for all the water fees.)

The funny thing was that he emphasized the water fees check amount was written for $134.00, instead of $133.98. He told me that he didn’t like to write checks with loose change so he rounded up the number for good sake. I did not see the good cause. So he gave me two cents extra on the check, but he was late on his payments for many months and gave me many headaches. I found it difficult to appreciate his good sake to round the check amount up to the nearest dollar.

The good news was that I have received my business and rental license approval. I could legally file an eviction, but I would hand it to an attorney who has experience. Before I would contact the attorney office again, I thought of giving my tenant a final warning and ask my tenant to leave. I guessed I could persuade them to move out without an eviction, but I could be wrong.

In any case, I would have to recalculate all the amounts my tenant owed me. If my phone call would not prove to be successful, I would send the updated numbers to the attorney office and proceed with the eviction.

Breakdown of Amounts the Tenant Owed me
Rent Owed
$900 – Rent for July 2008
$900 – Rent for August 2008
$900 – Rent for September 2008
$900 – Rent for October 2008
Total Rent Owed: $3,600.00

Late Fees
$45 – Late Fee for July 2008
$45 – Late Fee for August 2008
$45 – Late Fee for September 2008
$45 – Late Fee for October 2008
Total Late Fees Owed: $180.00

Water Fees
$3.66 – water fee from previous outstanding balance
$69.11 – water fee for July 2008
$61.21 – water fee for August 2008
Total Late Fees Owed: $ 133.98

Miscellaneous
$50 – maintaining the lawn

Total Owed (Rent Owed + Late Fees): $3,963.98

Payment Collected
$500 – check from September 2008
$400 – check from October 2008
$134 – check for all the water fees
Total Payment Collected: $1034.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING BALANCE: $2,929.98

Read more:
Philadelphia Tenants Saga – Part 1
Philadelphia Tenants Saga – Part 2
Rental Property

Continued from Philadelphia Tenants Saga…

I was tired of dealing with my tenants, so I handled over the job to my real estate agent. He told me that he had called them many times but it was very difficult to reach them. And whenever my agent got a hold of them, the tenants would always come up with some excuse and try to delay paying rent.

After many phone call attempts and a few weeks later, my real estate agent finally received a check from the tenant. The check was for $500, which was about half the amount of the $900 monthly rent. My real estate agent told me that it took a lot of work for him to get money out of the tenants, and asked for a small bonus of $75 in return.

I told my real estate agent that I needed to make sure the check did not bounce first and then I would give him a bonus. I wanted to offer him 10% of all the money he could get back from the tenants for me, however he refused it. He thought it would be too much work. Even though he could potentially receive a bigger bonus from a 10% basis, he would rather receive a fixed amount from each check. I deposited the check and waited about 10 days and when the check cleared, I sent my real estate agent a check for $75.

My tenants were already 3 months behind rent. I called them on September 22 and wanted to cut a deal with them. I wanted to offer them a wipeout of the outstanding balance they owed me if they were willing to move out immediately. However, the plan did not go accordingly.

When I called my tenant, he did not answer. He called me back 15 minutes later and told me that he also had his wife on the line (probably through 3-way calling). Immediately, they started arguing over the phone. The man told the wife that she needed to pay rent. The wife screamed at the husband for not giving him money. The drama went back and forth for several minutes and during that time I was listening and speechless. Finally, my tenant told the wife to shut up and allow me to talk. I told them that my concern was the payment of the rent and fees they owed me. They still owed me 3 months of rent, plus 3 months of water fees.

The wife said that she would come up with $400 by the end of the week. She already had $300 saved up and would get $100 from the husband, making a total of $400. I told them that $400 would not cover the rent payments they owed me. They said that they would try to make additional payments throughout the weeks. I also told my tenant that he was responsible for all the water bills and that I had been paying the bills for him, and he still owed me money. He told me that he had the money for me and asked me to send him the total amount he owed me for water. I had previously sent him a letter indicating the total amount he owed me for the rent and water. However, I did not argue with him, and I told him that I would send him another letter. Additionally, I indicated that going forward, he would be responsible for all the water payments. I would only forward the water bills to him and I would not be paying them. I sent him a letter indicating the total amount he owed me for the water bills, and I mailed the letter certified.

My tenants also complained about my real estate agent. They said that he was loud and rude, and that he would show up drunk. With my tenant’s credibility, I was skeptical about what they said. When I related the information to my real estate agent, he laughed out loud and almost fell off his chair. It was the most ridiculous thing he had heard, and said that my tenants were making stories to get the real estate agent off their back.
This whole issue with the tenants was very frustrating. It took up much of my time and energy. The tenants owed me 3 months of rent, late fees and water bills. And when October comes, it would be another month of rent to add to their outstanding balance.

Breakdown of Amounts the Tenant Owed me
Rent Owed
$900 – Rent for July 2008
$900 – Rent for August 2008
$900 – Rent for September 2008
Total Rent Owed: $2,700.00

Late Fees
$45 – Late Fee for July 2008
$45 – Late Fee for August 2008
$45 – Late Fee for September 2008
Total Late Fees Owed: $135.00

Water Fees
$3.66 – water fee from previous outstanding balance
$69.11 – water fee for July 2008
$61.21 – water fee for August 2008
Total Late Fees Owed: $ 133.98

Total (Rent Owed + Late Fees + Water Fees): 2,968.98

Payment Collected
$500 – check from September 2008

TOTAL OUTSTANDING BALANCE: 2,468.98

I decided to start the eviction process, but I needed to apply for a business and a rental license first. I had already completed the applications for a business and a rental license at the beginning of September and was waiting for a business license number that would be sent back to me. Once I receive the license, I would proceed immediately with the eviction process.

Read more:
Philadelphia Tenants Saga – Part 3
Philadelphia Tenants Saga – Part 1
Rental Property