Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do?

Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? by Anonymous on January 30, 2016 @20:18

Thanks for weighing in.

Clearly I know this was a mistake. The lease didn't require a security deposit so they were allowed to move in. I have never been a landlord before and never wanted to be - so I thought I did the right thing by letting someone else handle it - that's why I hired them. I need to go over to check my property and document the condition before I serve the eviction papers.

There's a tiny part of me that hopes that since I called them out on their scam and the police are now involved - that they will move out tomorrow. I have an attorney that will file the paperwork Monday if they are still there.

Anyone have thoughts on whether I have recourse since there isn't a valid lease in place and they aren't legally allowed on my property now? In this case does it need to go through the entire eviction process? With their history I have to imagine any judge would just rule to get them out without dragging the process out.

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Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? by John Farmer (Florida) on January 30, 2016 @20:37	[ Reply ]

You evict them just like you would evict anyone else. Go to the courthouse and they will walk you through the process.

Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? by Anonymous on January 30, 2016 @21:54	[ Reply ]

You should not go over there. You already know that you will get no money out of these deadbeats - so what do you need to know? yes maybe they have trashed the place but that will not change a thing. You need to get them out as soon as you can then deal with any damages afterwards.

Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? by Anonymous on January 30, 2016 @21:57	[ Reply ]

and yes you need to go through the formal court eviction process. The longer you wait the longer they will sit there living for free.... it is what they planned all along. You should look over the contract you have with the property manager and think about suing them.

Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? by John Farmer (Florida) on January 30, 2016 @22:45	[ Reply ]

Be sure to sue them for back rent... and if you go over there (bring police if that makes you feel safe), look for other violations of the lease.... If they trashed the place, then that is a violation of the lease and more grounds for eviction under noncompliance... Not that you need a second grounds for eviction, but just to be sure just in case they start paying the court to legally stay in the place... It's happened to me... somebody once got behind in rent and also turned the place into a squat house.... I tried to evict them on the rent, so they just started paying their back rent to the court, so then I started posting noticed to evict them based on using the place as a squat house (assignment or subletting as it's called in the lease)...

Re: I'm being scammed by a tenant, what can I do? - Landlord Forum thread 342623