Evictions are an essential element of the job for rental owners and Burlingame property managers. When dealing with frustrating renters, evicting them won’t always be the best option. Evictions can take up a lot of your time and be costly for both the landlord and the tenant. Rarely does the eviction process benefit either the property owner or the tenant. Due to this, occasionally evicting a tenant may be the incorrect course of action. Finding better solutions than eviction in these cases will greatly benefit both you and your tenant.
Your Otherwise Good Renter Falls Behind on Rent
Profitable ownership of a rental property requires a tenant of high caliber. Even reliable renters may experience financial troubles, job loss, or other reasons that prohibit them from paying their rent. It is evident that failure to pay rent in a timely manner constitutes a breach of their lease. Yet, perhaps it isn’t the best course of action to evict a tenant for neglecting to pay one or even multiple monthly installments. This is especially true if the tenant has a habit of timely payments and is diligent about keeping the property clean and in good repair.
In these circumstances, working with your renter to find a solution to assist them in catching up on late rent payments might be a better option than eviction. As long as the renter’s financial problems are temporary, this could be a good way to prevent the price of trying to evict and replace the tenant, together while winning the renter’s thankfulness. This option is more likely to help you recover all of the unpaid rent payments and keep a good renter over the long run if you’re willing to endure a small financial cost in the short term.
You Don’t Have Clear Legal Grounds
There are some circumstances in which eviction can result in more legal issues than it would fix. These should be avoided under all circumstances. Not having clear legal grounds for eviction would be an example of such an instance. If your renter has been making complaints on the habitability of the home, either to you or to the local housing authority, when you haven’t taken steps to resolve the complaint, your idea to evict the renter might be viewed as retaliatory and be declined.
Another illustration would be if a renter who belongs to a protected class felt that your eviction was against them. The federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to evict a renter because of their age, faith, skin color, family situation, sexual preferences, or factors of the like. Your renter may sue you if your eviction is thought to be discriminatory.
Lastly, tread carefully when accepting partial rent payments before or after seeking to remove a tenant for non-payment of rent. If you take any rent from the tenant, you may lose your legal grounds for eviction and find yourself in a precarious position. This is because taking partial payments results in an implied contract between you and your tenant, even if it isn’t documented in writing, and a judge is likely to view it as continuing your lease. It is best to wait until the issue is more evident if you don’t have clearly established legal grounds for an eviction.
You’d Rather Keep Your Money
Not only are legal fees involved, but the entire eviction procedure is costly. Chances are, once your tenant learns that you intend to evict them, they will stop paying rent and, in many cases, refrain from cleaning or maintaining the rented property. Both lost wages and increased cleaning and repair costs are often the results of this.
Given the cost and inconvenience of the eviction procedure, you could consider paying your tenant to vacate. This type of “cash for keys” plan could enable a renter with financial distress to vacate cordially or urge a troublesome tenant to vacate as soon as possible. It may seem peculiar to give cash to someone who owes you money, but even a lump sum cash payment of several hundred dollars is significantly less than the cost of evicting the renter.
Avoid Eviction with Quality Property Management
Selecting a reliable renter with a record of on-time rent payments is one of the best methods to totally avoid eviction. However, that could be tough, particularly if you have other things to accomplish. At Real Property Management Bay Area, we sift through all rental applicants to discover just the most qualified individuals for your rental property. If any issues develop in the future, our Burlingame property management advisors can help you choose the best plan of action to take. Contact us online today to learn more!
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
