The one thing you don’t want to do when a tenant stops paying rent is panic. There are some good ways to alleviate any financial stress this may cause you as a rental property owner. The first thing you want to do is to try and contact the tenant in any way you can. Refer to your lease and all the contact information you have. Reach out by telephone or email and do what you can to get in touch and try to find out what the problem may be.
Legally, you can serve a 5 Day Notice to Pay or Quit. This tells the tenants that rent is required within the next five days, or they will have to leave the property. Once the legal deadline passes and you still don’t have the rent, it’s time to file for eviction. The tenant will have the option of requesting a court hearing in the appropriate jurisdiction; otherwise you’ll be able to successfully get the tenant out of your property through eviction.
Once you have your eviction, schedule a date and time with the constable as well as a locksmith. You’ll meet at the property to move the tenants out as well as any of the tenants’ belongings. You do need to give the tenants the opportunity to move any remaining belongings out on their own before you show up with the constable. Under no circumstances should you move out or touch any of the tenant’s property before you have the legal right to do so. You don’t even want to move things out to the garage. It could be legally and financially catastrophic for you to do so.
Wait until you have the locksmith and the constable on the property to do anything. If the tenants are still inside, you can knock on the door and part
company with the tenants. Give them a little time to get moved out, and then take possession of the property. Then, the process is complete and you
can focus on getting the property ready for a new tenant.
If you have any questions about the eviction process or how to handle tenants who stop paying rent or are consistently late with rent, please contact us at Ravago Group Property Management, and we would be happy to help you.
