Ex-Tenants in Hiding - Landlord Forum thread

Ex-Tenants in Hiding by Anonymous on July 14, 2012 @15:18

So I rented my home in Dec. 2011. My husband and I moved to Arizona. Our real estate agent found a family to rent our home. They were expecting an inheritance and planned on buying the house when they received the money. We had a contract/agreement of sale with them and so on... Anyway, five months later they had no more money and the inheritance never came so we had to ask them to leave. They did leave by an agreed upon date. Here's the problem: First, they didn't pay their utility bill to the Borough for months and left with a $1900 bill they didn't pay. Our Borough then makes it the responsibility of the homeowner to pay it. So basically, any tenant can just run up a huge bill and take off and we get a lien placed against our home. I can take them to the magistrate except you HAVE to have their new address to sue them and these people are in hiding. Second, we had in our agreement that my husband and I would store some belongings we couldn't take on our move to AZ in the basement and garage. When the tenants would buy the home, we would have them removed. They were perfectly fine with this as this home has a huge basement and we basically just had some things that sat in a small corner. Well, when the tenants left (they didn't stick around for a walk-through) they stole all of our belongings we were storing. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation? What rights do I have? I wanted to go to the police but I was told they will tell me the stolen property is a civil matter and I will have to take them to the magistrate in PA. These tenants must know the system because they are in hiding in someone else's home in the same town and left no forwarding address with the Post Office. I already tried to get that. They are going to send their children to the local school district but as of yet they have not signed them up yet (they used to be home schooled). I also was considering contacting the Welfare office because I know they receive food stamps because neither of them work, they just know how to work the system. Normally, I would just let this go as a loss, but I am trying to sell the house and a lien will make it harder to sell in an already depressed area.

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Re: Ex-Tenants in Hiding by Jake on July 14, 2012 @15:43	[ Reply ]

Have you contacted the real estate agent who you paid to find this deadbeat?

Re: Ex-Tenants in Hiding by tiffany on July 14, 2012 @16:31	[ Reply ]

The lein is against you..won't make it harder to sell I don't think. They get paid when you sell. Gonna have to absorb cost...too bad...it's not fair but you won't see a dime...leave lein intact if that is easier and it will get paid at escrow.

Re: Ex-Tenants in Hiding by Anonymous on July 15, 2012 @06:35	[ Reply ]

Unfortunately you will most likely have to pay the bill they left you with. Even if you could find them they are deadbeats and don't work so you will never see a dime of the money. Learn from this mistake. If you have to rent the house again make sure if you use an agency that you have final approval and do not fall for people's stories. They will tell you anything and then rip you off. I also have fallen victim to a deadbeat tenant and I definately learned my lesson. Sorry about what happened to you but you might as well stop looking for them as it would be pointless. Start making arrangements to get the bill paid off and then move on with your life.

Re: Ex-Tenants in Hiding by Nicole (PA) on July 15, 2012 @16:57	[ Reply ]

sue them with a landlord tenant complaint ... you don't have to find them, the property will be posted. of course, collecting your judgment will be the problem. as for the possessions you left there, I'd guess that it's just gone ... your "punishment" for being so naive. as for your lien, you're going to have to pay it, either now or at settlement. I personally would take care of it now and not wait until settlement - especially if the lien hasn't yet been filed. If you are ever in a landlord situation again, you have the tenant pay you the utilities that are lienable (usually sewer & trash - sometimes water depending on the municipality) and you pay the utility provider yourself. that way, if they don't pay it monthly, quarterly or however it's billed, you'll know right away and can evict rather than waiting for a bill like this one. bottom line, you're climbing an uphill battle and probably should just chalk it up as a tough, expensive lesson learned.