Tenant probably has someone not on the lease living in the house

[ceciliasdad]

Today I discovered my tenant has two large beds in one of the bedrooms.  This seemed very odd to me.  Additionally, I saw an individual that looks to be living there although I don't believe they are on the lease. Our lease does not permit additional people to live there.

My question is, I'm interested in evicting this tenant for various reasons.  How can I prove they are breaking the lease by having an additional roommate?

[rothwem]

Today I discovered my tenant has two large beds in one of the bedrooms.  This seemed very odd to me.  Additionally, I saw an individual that looks to be living there although I don't believe they are on the lease. Our lease does not permit additional people to live there.

My question is, I'm interested in evicting this tenant for various reasons.  How can I prove they are breaking the lease by having an additional roommate?

Do you have anything in the lease about occupants other than the person mentioned on the lease?

Also, are you sure you want an eviction?  Just about every law is stacked against you as the landlord, so its going to take a lot of time and money to get someone out, even if you have a bulletproof lease. 

[Ensign1999]

Eviction might not be the way to go (unless they have a long two or three year lease).  I've only had to evict once from my property and it was not a fun process.  Tenant ran into financial problems, rent started to come in late, and then eventually stopped.  There had been some other problems to where I wasn't to upset to see them go.  Eviction process took a couple of months and then more time to get the house back in shape.  Between the month they didn't pay, two more months for the process, a month rehab, and a month to find good new tenants I lost about 5 months rent plus the costs of the eviction.

It might be easier and more cost effective to wait out until the lease runs out and then not renew.  Make sure you understand the process in your lease for not renewing it so when the time comes for them to be gone you understand the process and are ready to act.

[bpleshek]

Is this a good tenant?  Are they paying on time and not causing issues or damage?

If they're a good tenant, it might not be worth it to you to do something about it.

Are they subletting?  Do you have a clause in the lease that prevents this?  If so, you might have an out here and put a quit notice on their property.  You better have the names of all adults living there or there could be issues depending on the state. 

Could you add them to the lease?  Is it possible that a boy/girl friend of the tenant has an adult child that came home from college and is living there temporarily?  If so, i'm not sure if there is anything you can do about that other than add them to the list of people occupying the property.  Again, depending on where this property is located.

Getting clarity on the situation is probably best.  Have you talked to your tenant?

If you are intent on getting them out "for various reasons" it would be good to know if the various reasons are a breach of your lease.  If not, you may be stuck.  Just don't renew when the lease is up. 

Good luck.

Brian

[ceciliasdad]

This property is in Texas.

The tenants are young males in their 20s. I'm pretty sure the unauthorized tenant is a friend (I even have a background application they submitted but pulled out on adding to the lease at the last minute). The lease prevents subletting and anyone but those named to live there.

My various reasons have more to do with my own situation.  We want to move into the property and have a timeline.

[bacchi]

This property is in Texas.

The tenants are young males in their 20s. I'm pretty sure the unauthorized tenant is a friend (I even have a background application they submitted but pulled out on adding to the lease at the last minute). The lease prevents subletting and anyone but those named to live there.

My various reasons have more to do with my own situation.  We want to move into the property and have a timeline.

You're in Texas? Just send them a stern letter informing them that they're not in compliance. Put the onus on them.

IANAL, standard disclaimer, etc.

[franklin w. dixon]

lmao I'm dying at this thread ... [rest deleted]

[MOD NOTE: If you have some criticism to make, then make it constructively.  Leave off the personal attacks.  We've been getting way too much of this lately.]

[franklin w. dixon]

To put it constructively: searching for petty non-reasons to evict someone "just because I changed my mind" is incredibly abusive, will not work, and may be criminal depending on how stupidly you go about it.

[franklin w. dixon]

And maybe you're getting "way too much of it" because "I saw a bed in a house, how do I evict??" is not a thread topic which deserves to be taken seriously.

[marty998]

And maybe you're getting "way too much of it" because "I saw a bed in a house, how do I evict??" is not a thread topic which deserves to be taken seriously.

Don't be a jerk franklin. As an owner, the OP has the right to know who is staying at your property on an ongoing basis.

One of my properties is leased to a single dad with 1 toddler. That is fine by me. If he has a partner stay with him, I don't need to know, that's his business, but we'd put her on the lease the next time around just as a formality if they are a de facto couple and if she had effectively moved in.

If he invited his mates around to stay long term, that would would not be ok, because the wear and tear on the property would be quite a bit more and because I/my property manager had not vetted them.

[Hotstreak]

Today I discovered my tenant has two large beds in one of the bedrooms.  This seemed very odd to me.  Additionally, I saw an individual that looks to be living there although I don't believe they are on the lease. Our lease does not permit additional people to live there.

My question is, I'm interested in evicting this tenant for various reasons.  How can I prove they are breaking the lease by having an additional roommate?

You signed a lease with this person, decided you don't want to honor that lease so that you can live in the home, and are searching for a way to evict your tenant.  Is that correct?  If so, what you are doing is unethical and you should reconsider whether or not it's important for you to act in good faith in your business dealings.


As to whether you can actually evict them, you need to start framing this in terms of what your lease requires and whether you can show they are violating it.  Like the police say, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove.

[Rufus.T.Firefly]

One more moral problem with the OP's intentions: lack of information surrounding the circumstances of the mysterious second individual.

What if this second person is a family member who is down-and-out? What if its a good friend who's fallen on hard times and the tenant is is helping out for a little while to get back on their feet?

The tenant may indeed be allowing another person to live in the apartment without informing the landlord and thereby be in the legal wrong according to the terms of the contract. But that doesn't mean they're doing the wrong thing. They could be performing an act of great charity by opening up their own home to someone who needs it.

Details matter.

[franklin w. dixon]

And maybe you're getting "way too much of it" because "I saw a bed in a house, how do I evict??" is not a thread topic which deserves to be taken seriously.

Don't be a jerk franklin. As an owner, the OP has the right to know who is staying at your property on an ongoing basis.

One of my properties is leased to a single dad with 1 toddler. That is fine by me. If he has a partner stay with him, I don't need to know, that's his business, but we'd put her on the lease the next time around just as a formality if they are a de facto couple and if she had effectively moved in.

If he invited his mates around to stay long term, that would would not be ok, because the wear and tear on the property would be quite a bit more and because I/my property manager had not vetted them.

Sure, and if our dear OP had been like "help me figure out what to do" or "who is this guy" or "how to proceed?" or whatever I would not have commenced to clown upon him. But instead of any of those he was like "Hey my dudes. I saw the following: A Bed. And second: An individual. How to evict??" Subsequently he volunteered that he did not want to evict because the tenant had failed to pay rent or otherwise violated the lease, but rather because he, the landlord, preferred to move back into the property because he had, quote, lemme just get the quotes out here, extra third quote, """a timeline""" wow big man with the timeline, hoo buddy.

This is why I'm really frustrated with Senor Frugal Toque, Moderator, being like how dareth thee commit the greatest forum crime at all, personal attack upon the OP, a righteous and chivalrous man, because our OP volunteered straight up that he was seeking a pretense to evict

Put on your thinking caps, fellow owners of property. When a prospective tenant is like oh I'll get the rent later as soon as I can sell all this weed, what's your reaction?

Ok: now put on your tenant caps: when a landlord wants to forcibly evict someone for the sole reason of reoccupying the property since he's all "whoopsy doodle shouldna rented it lol" how bullshit is that? I suggest it is 100% bullshit. And furthermore I suggest that in the case of someone volunteering that they are seeking any arbitrary pretense to evict that person is, in actual fact, an asshole. It's no longer a matter of personal opinion, but rather, public record.

Sure landlords have a right to know who is living in their property. If OP had asked "how can I identify this person?" I would have suggested first: talk to your damn tenant, of course! But he's not interested in an equitable resolution because he wants to find an excuse to detonate the nuclear bomb of property management on account of how he, the landlord, made a mistake in signing the lease. Here's an idea: fulfill your god damn contractual obligations, and if that makes life hard for you, suck it the fuck up, landlord.

[franklin w. dixon]

Like if I just bumble into a thread like Yo I'm Tryna Commit Some Rapes, Tips Wanted can I get all negative messages deleted for the important forum crime of PERSONAL ATTACK or what

[MOD NOTE:  There is no sense in which "How do I evict a tenant violating a lease?" is similar to "I want to rape someone".]

[marty998]

And maybe you're getting "way too much of it" because "I saw a bed in a house, how do I evict??" is not a thread topic which deserves to be taken seriously.

Don't be a jerk franklin. As an owner, the OP has the right to know who is staying at your property on an ongoing basis.

One of my properties is leased to a single dad with 1 toddler. That is fine by me. If he has a partner stay with him, I don't need to know, that's his business, but we'd put her on the lease the next time around just as a formality if they are a de facto couple and if she had effectively moved in.

If he invited his mates around to stay long term, that would would not be ok, because the wear and tear on the property would be quite a bit more and because I/my property manager had not vetted them.

Sure, and if our dear OP had been like "help me figure out what to do" or "who is this guy" or "how to proceed?" or whatever I would not have commenced to clown upon him. But instead of any of those he was like "Hey my dudes. I saw the following: A Bed. And second: An individual. How to evict??" Subsequently he volunteered that he did not want to evict because the tenant had failed to pay rent or otherwise violated the lease, but rather because he, the landlord, preferred to move back into the property because he had, quote, lemme just get the quotes out here, extra third quote, """a timeline""" wow big man with the timeline, hoo buddy.

This is why I'm really frustrated with Senor Frugal Toque, Moderator, being like how dareth thee commit the greatest forum crime at all, personal attack upon the OP, a righteous and chivalrous man, because our OP volunteered straight up that he was seeking a pretense to evict

Put on your thinking caps, fellow owners of property. When a prospective tenant is like oh I'll get the rent later as soon as I can sell all this weed, what's your reaction?

Ok: now put on your tenant caps: when a landlord wants to forcibly evict someone for the sole reason of reoccupying the property since he's all "whoopsy doodle shouldna rented it lol" how bullshit is that? I suggest it is 100% bullshit. And furthermore I suggest that in the case of someone volunteering that they are seeking any arbitrary pretense to evict that person is, in actual fact, an asshole. It's no longer a matter of personal opinion, but rather, public record.

Sure landlords have a right to know who is living in their property. If OP had asked "how can I identify this person?" I would have suggested first: talk to your damn tenant, of course! But he's not interested in an equitable resolution because he wants to find an excuse to detonate the nuclear bomb of property management on account of how he, the landlord, made a mistake in signing the lease. Here's an idea: fulfill your god damn contractual obligations, and if that makes life hard for you, suck it the fuck up, landlord.

You are being ridiculous, especially with that last line. Honestly what has happened in your life to have that sort of attitude towards landlords, without whom, many people would not be able to have shelter because the cannot afford to buy a place themselves? What are you so angry?

To the OP... let the lease run, and a couple of months before expiry just give a notice to vacate in line with your local laws. Otherwise if you absolutely need the property earlier, have the curtesy to offer your tenants compensation to move out.

[franklin w. dixon]

You are being ridiculous, especially with that last line. Honestly what has happened in your life to have that sort of attitude towards landlords, without whom, many people would not be able to have shelter because the cannot afford to buy a place themselves? What are you so angry?

To the OP... let the lease run, and a couple of months before expiry just give a notice to vacate in line with your local laws. Otherwise if you absolutely need the property earlier, have the curtesy to offer your tenants compensation to move out.

I'm being ridiculous, but your advice is exactly the same as mine: follow the contract, or offer compensation to break the contract.

Where's the ridiculousness, Obama?

[human]

Just wanted to say I always love Frank's posts and I totally agree with him. I get that being a slumlord is big business for a lot of people, but I see a lot of threads with landlords shitting on peon tenants and the one guy who stands up to him getsblasted.

Landlords need to realize that you are trying to toss someone out of their home because they didn't tell you about their decorative macrome hobby or are a day late. I saw a thread some time ago of a landlord trying to come up with all sorts of reasons to illegally inspect their rental every two weeks and everyone chimed in with "smoke detector check".

This forum can be full of entitled pricks sometimes.

[FrugalToque]

I'm not sure what thread you are all reading, but the one I'm reading has a landlord who
a) has a lease specifying occupancy limits
b) has a tenant violating occupancy limits
c) wants to move the tenant out for this and other reasons.

If you want to read between the lines and infer other things from the terse sentences the OP has given, that's your problem.  Feel free to ask questions, clarify what's going on, and get the conversation on a constructive track.

If you're going to post needlessly inflammatory, presumptuous comments about the OP and his or her intentions, you don't have a place here.  The forums are getting extraordinarily venomous with several long time posters doing this sort of thing and I don't see how it benefits anyone - new or old - to see that Mustachianism has anything to do with this cruel, pointless sort of "criticism".

If you aren't able to grasp this concept, that criticism ought to be thorough, logical and occasionally colourful (as opposed to entirely colour with little content), then you aren't advancing the agenda of steering everyone toward a non-consumption based lifestyle and you don't belong here.

Toque.

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