buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jun 26, 2020 8:51:18 GMT -5
My neighbor has been in a difficult situation. He had a friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Due to the costs of medication, the friend could no longer afford the rent on his apartment. Neighbor (T) offered to let him live in a trailer house he owns, rent free. Friend (B) took him up on the offer. B's son and the son's girlfriend moved in a couple of months after B did. T let them know that when B died, they would need to leave. Unfortunately, B died the same day the girlfriend gave birth. T was told by the County Sheriff that he couldn't evict them due to laws covering evictions of persons with a new baby. T filed all the paperwork necessary, but the courts have been closed due to Covid. T also learned that he could not have the water or electricity shut off until the baby was three months old. So, in addition to having squatters living in his trailer house, he also had to pay the electric and water bills for them. The squatters have caused known damage to the house. They removed the heaters and then used electric space heaters. (We suspect they sold the heaters for drug funding.) The space heaters burned out part of the fuse box. They also removed and got rid of the stove. It seems like anything not completely hammered down is at risk of being removed and sold. There is a lot more history to this story, but I'm trying to include only the pertinent details without giving too much information.
T still can't evict them because he has to go to court to prove they are squatters rather than tenants. The case is on hold until the courts open back up again.
I keep telling DH that our cost of the property management company is so worth it when we talk about T's problem. We all live on the same road, so we see the squatter's every day. T lives next door to them, so he also sees them every day. It's frustrating for him to say the least. Anyone else have a similar issue with closed courts during Covid?
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Jun 26, 2020 9:20:06 GMT -5
I had to do probate for sister’s will. Surrogate court was ‘closed’ to public entering but I was able to do everything online as court employees were still working. So maybe Court is still functioning about squatters but unfortunately laws already have 3 month pass due to new baby. Yes extremely frustrating to have bad tenants as tenants have s lot of rights.
Even with a court order to vacate they might not leave. Daughter had one bad tenant like that so she nailed eviction notice to door, got police involved but still difficult. This tenant was fine for a year then his personal life went to hell and daughter’s rental suffered
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 26, 2020 9:29:16 GMT -5
As an attorney who does evictions, yes.
I have them lined up for when the courts reopen.
I have been able to do one evictions, but the tenants were arrested for cooking meth in public housing. That's a safety hazard.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jun 26, 2020 10:03:23 GMT -5
Property managers help only if you have a good one. My friend rented her condo when she bought a house with her bf. Even though she was taking $100/month from the rent she nickeled and dimed her for everything. She was charged $5 for some postage needed! There was a problem with the ac and my friend ended up being the one having to place multiple calls with the home warranty company because the property manager just didn't do it. Oh and when the tenant moved out a month early the PM said they'd just use her security deposit for the last month WITHOUT asking my friend and oh there was damage to the condo! And then had the balls to try and charge $75 for a walk through after the tenant left! Like WTF did the $100 for the last month when there was no tenant there for!
She's since found a friend to rent it and fired the PM. I'm pretty bummed cuz that was one of the PMs our HOA recommends. But I guess the HOA only likes her because she works well with them (duh she is currently the HOA president lol).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 11:38:03 GMT -5
Squatters were a huge problem where I used to live. They would move onto any vacant property and then the owners would have a horrid time trying to evict them.
While perhaps not legal, the only two effective short-term solutions I ever saw work were a firearm and demand to leave and never come back or paying them to move. Not that I advocate either.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jun 26, 2020 11:40:28 GMT -5
Are these people technically squatters?
Left over guests of a deceased tenant. Not sure how that works, or if it makes any difference.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jun 26, 2020 14:11:33 GMT -5
There's a spot of drama in my workplace involving a mother and daughter pair that recently moved in with a (not-the-sharpest) coworker supposedly to protect their own parents and grandparents from the risks associated with sharing a household with essential workers.
The verbal lease has not been honored. The two persons not on the lease have not paid anything toward rent or utilities and the grocery split is iffy.
If she is lucky, the parents of the unwitting hostess will eventually step in. They have the following options. - they can convince their daughter to terminate or not renew her existing lease and have her move back in with them.
- they can convince their daughter to not renew her existing lease on a two-bedroom apartment that she formerly shared with her estranged husband and move into another apartment. This move probably won't be within the same apartment complex. Under ordinary circumstances, I can easily see the property managers helping a reliable and well-backstopped tenant move from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom in order to shed moochers but that isn't an option now. She can move to a one-bedroom but there's no guarantee that her non-paying sub-leasors will go anywhere and without the ability to evict them. What management company would help out here, no matter how much her rent is guaranteed by her well-heeled and quite legal-savvy parents.
- They can grit their teeth, renew the lease if necessary, and wait until evictions are possible. Then they can begin the tortuous process of evicting persons who claim either that they are guests or that they have honored an oral lease.
This whole situation would have been much more clear-cut during a time in which evictions were possible. At the very least, the size of the bribe given to either the squatters (for leaving) or the management company (for having to evict the squatters) would be much more fixed.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jun 26, 2020 14:14:47 GMT -5
I hope the person who was going to renovate an old hotel for low income people has read this nightmare. -------------- My late brother's live-in invited her indigent Dad to move into their vacant trailer on my brother's property. He smoked the place up because none of the wood burning pot belly stoves were vented. Ruined some antiques. My brother ended up bribing him to leave. Then brother and live-in would move in with my Dad any time I went to visit him. My Dad would give them money to go to AZ in the winter months to get rid of them. They took over the house when my Dad passed. Not settling the estate for 21 years until I paid a lot of money to a lawyer to get away.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Jun 26, 2020 15:01:55 GMT -5
There's a spot of drama in my workplace involving a mother and daughter pair that recently moved in with a (not-the-sharpest) coworker supposedly to protect their own parents and grandparents from the risks associated with sharing a household with essential workers.
The verbal lease has not been honored. The two persons not on the lease have not paid anything toward rent or utilities and the grocery split is iffy.
If she is lucky, the parents of the unwitting hostess will eventually step in. They have the following options. - they can convince their daughter to terminate or not renew her existing lease and have her move back in with them.
- they can convince their daughter to not renew her existing lease on a two-bedroom apartment that she formerly shared with her estranged husband and move into another apartment. This move probably won't be within the same apartment complex. Under ordinary circumstances, I can easily see the property managers helping a reliable and well-backstopped tenant move from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom in order to shed moochers but that isn't an option now. She can move to a one-bedroom but there's no guarantee that her non-paying sub-leasors will go anywhere and without the ability to evict them. What management company would help out here, no matter how much her rent is guaranteed by her well-heeled and quite legal-savvy parents.
- They can grit their teeth, renew the lease if necessary, and wait until evictions are possible. Then they can begin the tortuous process of evicting persons who claim either that they are guests or that they have honored an oral lease.
This whole situation would have been much more clear-cut during a time in which evictions were possible. At the very least, the size of the bribe given to either the squatters (for leaving) or the management company (for having to evict the squatters) would be much more fixed.
Can’t the coworker/renter of 2 BR just move out to 1 BR. Does the management company even know about the 2 squatters? Not her problem if they stay in 2 be apartment- management will deal with them, surely not the first time management has needed to get rid of people not paying rent and living in apartment
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 16:02:17 GMT -5
While perhaps not legal, the only two effective short-term solutions I ever saw work were a firearm and demand to leave and never come back or paying them to move. Not that I advocate either. As Artemis mentioned, bribery is another option. It would kill me to hand money to people who were living there rent-free and destroying the property but it might be worth it in the long run. I feel SO bad for the new baby. What chances does he/she have?
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jun 26, 2020 16:13:36 GMT -5
Are these people technically squatters? Left over guests of a deceased tenant. Not sure how that works, or if it makes any difference. Well, they don't have a lease and the father did. They were not named on the lease. T really didn't want them there, but admitted that B could use the help due to his poor condition.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jun 26, 2020 16:17:09 GMT -5
Bribery would probably work if T could come up with enough money. He and his wife live on small SS checks and a small pension. It's enough to pay their bills, but it's been a struggle for them to pay pumped up water and electric bills. The squatters even planted some pot plants in the front yard. T found them and pulled them all up. He doesn't need another headache!
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formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Jun 26, 2020 16:56:42 GMT -5
This sort of nightmare situation is one reason why we have so many homeless people. In my grandmothers time, it was as common as dirt for anybody who had a spare room to rent it out. So even someone who didn’t have a good job could have a roof over their head and food in their belly. But back then if somebody didn’t pay or miss behaved, you could throw them out immediately. Now that getting rid of a problem tenant involves this lengthly, expensive, time consuming process that gives the tenant plenty of time to do tens of thousands of dollars damage to your place,A lot of people who would rent out a spare room aren’t going to be willing to take the risk.
It would be nice if there was some middle ground, we are somebody could get rid of a bad tenant immediately, but there would be a safe clean place for that person to go while the authorities looked into the situation. It could be kind of like unemployment insurance, where a certain amount of the rent goes towards a fund for emergency housing for people who have been thrown out.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Jun 26, 2020 17:14:27 GMT -5
Exactly why it states in our leases, no guests longer then 2 weeks. Otherwise they become tenants in common and you have to evict them. I make sure our renters know this. I had one request, they have a 2 bedroom with a daughter about 11. Her dad was wanting to stay there, I said how? It's a small house, she did not even know him. I told her no, so he went to a hotel. He had not been in her life and she found out pretty quick why. That one took care of itself. I have had others request and its no, 2 weeks and out. So never been an issue with us.
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skeeter
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Post by skeeter on Jun 26, 2020 19:06:11 GMT -5
I wonder if maybe Child Protected Services could help. With no heaters, stove, and probably other things missing added to the pot plants in the yard, I would "guess" that baby might be taken away which would probably help in getting adults evicted faster..........Just a thought.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jun 27, 2020 8:47:33 GMT -5
I wonder if maybe Child Protected Services could help. With no heaters, stove, and probably other things missing added to the pot plants in the yard, I would "guess" that baby might be taken away which would probably help in getting adults evicted faster..........Just a thought. I know T and his wife have discussed that, but they don't want to escalate the problem any further. They have the most to risk in this ugly situation. It's already going to cost them thousands of dollars to put the place back right.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jun 27, 2020 9:04:10 GMT -5
is the child in actual danger?
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Jun 27, 2020 10:09:15 GMT -5
The longer they stay the more damage their will be. It's not going to get better, so I would bite the bullet and just get it done.
I am so grateful we have not gotten into a mess like that, yet. No matter how careful you are things can happen.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Jun 27, 2020 10:38:05 GMT -5
Are these people technically squatters? Left over guests of a deceased tenant. Not sure how that works, or if it makes any difference. Deceased was a guest, not paying rent.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jun 27, 2020 10:42:49 GMT -5
Are these people technically squatters? Left over guests of a deceased tenant. Not sure how that works, or if it makes any difference. Deceased was a guest, not paying rent. I don't think a long term agree like this counts as a guest. Whether they are paying or not.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jun 27, 2020 17:43:02 GMT -5
is the child in actual danger? No way to know if you don't consider pot smoke in the home as a danger. T knows they smoke it in the house. He's smelled it when he's been over there to ask them to leave before he had to take legal action.
It's just a kick in the gut for him trying to do a nice thing for a friend. I feel really bad for him and his wife. I don't know that they'll ever be able to put together the money to repair the damage.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2020 18:21:17 GMT -5
It’s indeed a shame when someone tries to do something nice and it ends up costing them a lot of trouble and money. I am in a similar situation with someone who refuses to leave my house and is costing me several hundreds of dollars every month, in addition to the things I will have to address and repair that occurred during their stay at my house..
As a result, I don’t see myself ever letting an adult live in any property I own for more than a couple of days, unless there is a signed agreement that I can legally enforce. I don’t care who it is, and I don’t care what the sad story is. It doesn’t make me happy to be like that, because I’ve always been quite the opposite, but that’s a prime example of how one person can mess things up for everybody.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Jun 28, 2020 12:38:43 GMT -5
I feel judgmental about people, and likely look at the bad as hubs says. But its to the point now where you get in a legal bind, so you just have to. I agree with you PC.
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ripvanwinkle
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Post by ripvanwinkle on Jun 28, 2020 18:08:10 GMT -5
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jun 28, 2020 18:37:10 GMT -5
I feel judgmental about people, and likely look at the bad as hubs says. But its to the point now where you get in a legal bind, so you just have to. I agree with you PC. It can be rough. When the manager of our vacation rental tried to switch to 30 day rentals as a work around the vacation rental work around I said no. With the eviction moratorium there's no way I would risk allowing someone new in with no way to enforce rent payment or get them out for months.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 19:15:29 GMT -5
I feel judgmental about people, and likely look at the bad as hubs says. But its to the point now where you get in a legal bind, so you just have to. I agree with you PC. It doesn’t help my case much that this person happens to be a senior citizen, and my own Mother at that. We had a verbal agreement that she would have fixed her own house and moved back into it by LAST June. And now she’s sold the house..... the house that she and my Aunt inherited from my Grandmother, who’s will said she wanted my Mom and Aunt to split the proceeds if that particular house was ever sold ( my Grandmother had 2 houses at one point), but my Mom hasn’t even told my Aunt she sold it..... for pennies because it was severely damaged and in terrible shape due to my Mom’s neglect. So I’m losing money every month because I still have a mortgage on that house and fair market rent is more than the mortgage, but my Mom isn’t trying to pay what the mortgage is, let alone what I could get if I rented it to strangers. And fair market rent would offset some of the money I’ve spent on plumbers, tearing out and rebuilding the laundry closet due to water damage that happened after I moved out, the yard man I pay to keep the yard neat, the repairs I’ll have to make to the baseboards that are damaged and coming loose from her banging walkers on them, the money I spend on pest control that was never an issue in the 20 years I lived in the house, and on and on and on. This whole subject pisses me the fuck off so imma just hush now.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Jun 28, 2020 22:30:12 GMT -5
If its draining you, you are going to have to do something. There are rentals for seniors, so move her into one and either rent it or sell it. Sometimes you have to save yourself.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jul 3, 2020 8:37:24 GMT -5
We spoke with T yesterday. He has a court date set, but is wondering if the courts will close again with Gov. Abbot's new requirements. He hopes to get this all done and taken care of finally. Keeping our fingers crossed that he gets to keep his court date and that it goes in his favor.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jul 31, 2020 16:07:33 GMT -5
T finally got his day in court yesterday. It was by video, but at least he doesn't have to wait any longer for a judgement. The squatters have to be out in five days or the sheriff is instructed to remove them. They owe him $3200 for the non-payment of rent. T will have to file a civil case to obtain funds to make house repairs.
At least there's finally an end to this story! ETA: I just learned that CPS was called three times about the child. The squatters believe T did it, but it was the squatter's sister who called. The child has not been removed from the home at this time.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 18:36:40 GMT -5
If its draining you, you are going to have to do something. There are rentals for seniors, so move her into one and either rent it or sell it. Sometimes you have to save yourself. I missed this earlier. A few people have told me to move her here or there. How? She’s an adult that’s not been declared incompetent or whatever, how do I MAKE her move to this place or that one? As far as I know, the only thing I can do is go through the system to try to have her evicted from my house, but where she goes after that is on her, I have no say in it. She has no intentions of leaving, has not even really tried to find somewhere to move to, and has flat out told a family member that I’m just talking, I won’t do anything, and I can’t sell my house because I have too much stuff to fix. There’s nothing major wrong with my house, and most of the things I’d have to fix are damage SHE caused, like the baseboards. I have the money to fix what needs to be fixed to sell my house, or rent it out, which was my intention if I ever moved. I told her last fall that if it comes to that, I WILL hire an attorney to proceed with a legal eviction. And a few months later, at the end of last year, I told her that at the beginning if 2020, I will do whatever is necessary to either sell the house or rent it to someone that can and will pay fair market rent.... bottom line, if she wasn’t willing to/can’t pay fair market rent, I would have to evict her. And I meant it.... I was just trying to give her fair warning. Realistically speaking, if she didn’t act so entitled, and have such a fucked up attitude, I’d probably accept payments equal to the mortgage payments or even something close to it, but I’m pissed off about being used so blatantly, so it’s become a hill I’m willing to die on. Then COVID-19 happened, everything was shut down, courts weren’t in session, and evictions were put on hold. So she’s still not taking me serious, and still talking shit, just not directly to me. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to take over this thread. It just pushes buttons for me.
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