Just found your blog and read most of the posts. I really appreciated your knowledge. I am in a situation now that I need your advise.
We have a TAR lease. My tenant has informed me early this year that he is going to vacant the property before lease ends. I informed him that even he moves out, he is still responsible to rent, utilities, etc. He agreed and asked me if he found a new tenant for me, can I sign a new lease and release him. I agreed verbally. Now we are about to sign a new lease with the new tenant, he decided to not pay the last month rent. Demanding that I use the deposit for last month rent. I told him that I don’t do that. He has to pay the last month rent before I release him and I only account the deposit within 30 days after I released him. He still has not paid May rent yet. I posted a 3 day to vacant property notice on the door and also emailed him the note. He is no longer live there. Should I sill pursue this as if he still lives there? File for eviction after 3 days? Or Can I simply just file for small claim for the lost rent since he is not living there and rent is not paid for May. I can simply treat it as abandonment?

> her attorney has told her if I take to court, judge will let them stay 3 more month without rent, because it is Texas law.

Not true. The attorney is lying at best, incompetent at worst.

You’re doing exactly what we advise against, which is getting sucked up into the story and drama surrounding the failure to pay rent. Ignore everything anyone tells you and simply follow the steps I outlined in the article. Get to court asap, without delay, and get the judgment for possession. There is no legal defense against non-payment of rent except for your failure to make repairs. There are no other legal reasons a judge can consider. Divorce is not relevant.

This is based on my personal experience and knowledge and is not meant to be taken as legal advice. I cannot give legal advice. If you’re unclear about your next steps, consult an attorney.

Good luck.

Steve

Just follow the eviction process and ignore everything else. I never email, text or phone a tenant. Everything by mail starting with late notice then eviction.

If you want to be rid of them, once the eviction is served, you have no obligation to accept rent and allow them to stay.

After you post eviction, tell them any further comunication will need to happen in front of the judge, and stick with that rule.

Good luck,

Steve

Long story short, the realtor was informed up front that personal checks were not accepted. However, I was so pressured and stressed I inadvertently accepted a personal check from the tenant after the tenant contacted me directly and dropped it off.

And you guessed it, the check bounced.

Tenant is an attorney with a (verified) $6,000/month income for an $1195/month rent. Seriously?!!!

She now occupies the property and refuses to pay the rent. She’s been served with the notice to vacate and I will file the eviction on Monday. (After just two weeks of occupancy. I’m incredulous.)

Question:

1. Can I take any action against the participating broker/realtor? She knew personal checks were not accepted, and yet admittedly, I accepted one.

2. What is the legal process for collecting the entire year’s lease from the resident? Eviction court will grant amounts due at that time. Would I pursue this in small Claims? Where does the abstract of judgment fit in? A 12-month contract (lease) was signed with not a dime collected. I would like to collect the entire year’s worth for my client. (other than the sec dep which I collected as a money order). I have a reasonable chance at collecting (which is not the case with many tenants!).

Thank you in advance.

Can I take ownership of my property if my tenant has moved out and not paid rent and I am unable to get a hold of him???

Thanks,
Angie

Don’t take this the wrong way, but you need to either sell your rental home and get out of the business, or hire a professional property manager to do it for you. I don’t mean that in a “mean” way, but you’re just not knowledgeable enough to be undertaking the takas of a landlord.

What you’re now asking, the new scenario with the straw renter, is so basic and fundamental that your intuition and instinct alone should be able to guide you. No, you NEVER rent under the scenario you’re describing and to do so would the start of your next future eviction.

We run into many do-it-yourself owners who “step in it” over and over again, making costly errors and misjudgments. All would have come out way ahead if they had just hired a manager years ago, and I’m worried you might be a candidate based on how things are going for you.

Again, no offense meant. Whatever you’re saving on management fees has long been lost to mistakes and you’re about to make another one if you’re even contemplating your stated scenario. Find a good manager and turn over the property.

Good luck,

Steve

If this were to become a situation where rent was not paid or the lease terms were violated and required me to take eviction action – would I be able to remove the friend from the house if I won the eviction judgment?

Within 30 minutes of leaving the court, the tenant calls and tells me he has all of the January and February rent and wants to meet to pay it. Have you seen this scenario work out for the landlord to still get the writ of possession if I do accept the money, give him a receipt of rent paid through the end of February and extend the vacate date to Feb 29 and then be able to get the writ of possession on March 1 if the tenant stays? I guess I could optionally just collect only enough money to cover all January rent and Feb just through the 20th and tell him he still must vacate by Feb 20 as eviction orders require. Or is it safest to walk away from any of the money owed in order to avoid giving the tenant any options for claiming I agreed to not evict by default when I accepted the February rent?

Greg,

> If I go by and determine the tenants have indeed vacated, can I take posession of the place and change locks?

Only if the definition of “abandonment” has been met, as defined in your lease agreement and/or property code. Normally, if most possessions are gone, utilities are off, and rent is owed, it’s abandoned. If in doubt, wait for the official court date.

Good Luck,

Steve

“Even if you lose in JP Court, you can appeal and remain in the property while the process unfolds.” Just from your experience and knowledge, how long CAN this take – days, weeks or months?

> I rented a house in Austin and fully prepaid one year’s rent.

That was your first mistake.

> Three months later, the landlord was foreclosed upon

Obviously for this reason.

At this point, you need legal help. I suggest calling Austin Tenant’s Council helpline and they can point you in the right direction and maybe even provide no-cost representation via a pro-bono attorney if you qualify.

Meanwhile, you can’t be forcibly removed from the property without proper legal process. Just make sure you respond properly to all notices and show up in JP Court and tell the Judge your story. Even if you lose in JP Court, you can appeal and remain in the property while the process unfolds.

Banks don’t like getting tangled up in a messy issue like this, so I think they will eventually work with you. But you need to seek legal help on all of this.

Good luck.

Steve

This is a terrific, no-nonsense blog. I’d like to ask you a question from the tenant side, as others have done above. I rented a house in Austin and fully prepaid one year’s rent. Three months later, the landlord was foreclosed upon and a little over four month’s after I moved in, the property reverted to the lender at auction. I was initially presented with a 3-day Notice to Vacate with an Alternative 90-day Notice to Vacate if I was a bona fide tenant under PTFA (which I am). No action was taken after three days and I presented documentation showing my bona fide tenant status, as well as my year’s prepayment of the rent. I researched many hours on the internet – big mistake – instead of consulting an attorney I could not afford, and was 100% convinced that I would be able to stay until the end of my lease, approximately 9 months from the foreclosure sale.

However, one of the provisions of PTFA is that the owner (lender/bank) may provide a 90 day notice and then file the a Forcible Detainer (eviction notice), if the lease is considered “terminable at will”. Apparently, 99% of all Texas leases are such. I did not know about this large loophole and had assumed I could stay until the end of my lease – the intent of PTFA. I was very surprised when the police showed up with the eviction notice, thinking I had done everything right.

My question is this. The time frame is now a matter of days and it is very difficult to find a rental home in my children’s current school district. I am willing to leave, as it’s my stupidity and ignorance which allowed the situation to get to this point, but I need more time here to find a place. If I have a judgement against me in JP, and appeal, do you know how long that appeal process takes? Additionally, I would be filing a Pauper’s Bond. Can you give me any guestimates covering both the scenario where the representatives of the bank try to fight the Pauper’s status (they would lose – lol – but let’s say they win) and the scenario where they do not fight the status, as to how long the process of appeal to County Court may take. Do you have any suggestions for me – I am in a real bind and, again, just want to stay until I can find another place…not necessarily through to the end of my lease.

Thank You
John