A tenent doesnt want to move from my property, after the end of the lease.?

Question

This is the 3rd time im asking this question, Im not asking about court removal, can you please answer the last question in my post.

As i said in an earlier question I live in PA and Im a landlord and they lease agreement with my tenents has ended.

I wish to move back into my house, but they wont leave, now some people told me about getting a a removal through the court, but why would i have to do that, the lease is expired they dont have any legal right to be there.

I understand that the police cant or wont do anything, and i cant remove them myself BUT can i move ontop of them??

I mean they cant show any act legal document that says they can be there.

So can I move there with them still there, Its my house i have the deed, and they have nothing.

Ill just move there invite 10 of myfriends and have a nice, but quiet party. For the next 3 days :)

Can i do this, I wont touch them or their stuff I wont even talk to them.

Answer 1

It is my understanding that if you do not have a non-renewal clause in your lease you must give them 30-day notice to vacate the house before the lease ends. Some states however require more notice. Some leases automatically renew if you do not give this notice. Also if they continue to pay rent you can run into problems there because technically you can't refuse to receive rent and accepting rent means you accept a month to month lease. I also know there are technicalities with landlords entering the property unless there is a sufficient reason, such as to fix a leaky faucet. It is my understanding that without that 30-day notice unless they are doing something wrong, you can't force them out. Good Luck!

Answer 2

You have to give them a written notice of eviction stating that their lease has expired and will not be renewed. If there lease was for less than a year then they have 30 days to vacate. If it was for a year or more then they have 90 days. Unless you have it stated within your lease agreement otherwise. If they are not gone by this time you have to go to through the courts. But it has been my experience that most people will leave after the eviction notice is served and you threaten to take legal action. When you give them the notice, make sure you personally hand it to them or have it posted on the door. If you send it in the mail, it may not hold up in court. I hope this is helpful to you and good luck. The website below will go into more detail.

Answer 3

I'm guessing you're doing things in writing. Ending a lease takes 30 notice and I'd suggest a certified letter. You could give them an incentive to leave: offer their full deposit if they move on your time frame. You're also allowed in most places to jack the rent, so you may want to include a rent increase if they stay after the 30 period is up. If you're serious about evicting after you've given 30 notice ACCEPT NO MORE RENT MONEY and start the eviction process. A call to a local attorney, landlord association or county courthouse can give you the "how to" to evict. Your costs can come out of the security deposit.
Tenants can brighten your day: some when they arrive, other when they leave. Some people just don't know when to leave.

Answer 4

You are most likely going to have to get an eviction notice thru the court. I know they have no legal right to be there since the lease has expired (unless there was a clause in the lease that made it a month-to-month lease), but that is the only way you can have them removed if they won't voluntarily move out. I'm sure that you were required to give them 30-days notice, but by now, they would have had 30-days notice since this has been going on.

It's a pain in the ***.

believe it or not, if you are selling a house and allow the new owners to go ahead and put items in the house before they close on it or to even go ahead and move in with the understanding that they pay rent for those few extra days and then they fail to close on the house, guess what? You have to go thru the courts and get an eviction notice to get them and their stuff out of it. Not exactly fair, but it's the only way to do it.

Wondering, silently, if you can legally cut their utilities off................hmmm......... it's not very nice, but possibly effective......

Answer 5

Most leases I've signed state that after its expiration, the lease continues on a month to month bases unless one party gives the other 30 days written notice of intent to move or intent to remove. You have to do this first, then use the courts. Not really any other option. If you try what you're saying, they can call the police and show them the lease, and throw you out.

Answer 6

Sorry but the ONLY way you can remove them legally is to file eviction proceedings through the courts.

What you are proposing is called a "constructive eviction" and is illegal. YOU (and your friends) WOULD be arrested for criminal trespassing at the very least. Some states also provide for treble damages to the tenant if you pull a stunt like that so it could cost you jail time AND a pile of money.

Although the lease is expired they DO have a legal right to occupy the property until the courts say otherwise. And if they have been paying the rent and you have been accepting it, they are now a month-to-month tenant and have an ABSOLUTE right of quiet enjoyment to the property. Most leases provide either for automatic renewal or month-to-month conversion at the end fo the lease term if neither party serves notice to the other of their intention to sever the landlord/tenant relationship.

Looking back at your previous posts, YOU are the one who is screwing up by the numbers. First off, you sent the Notice to Quit via e-mail. Virtually every lease in the country (and state law as well) requires WRITTEN notification of your intention to re-take possession of the property. E-Mail does NOT qualifiy as WRITTEN notification. As such, legal Notice to Quit has NOT been served upon your tenant and they have an ABSOLUTE right to continue to live there.

A valid Notice to Quit must be given at least 30 days in advance and must usually span one FULL rental period. If you mail that notice today, it will not take effect until September 1, 2007. If they are not out by then you can start formal eviction proceedings. Most leases and state laws require the Notice to Quit be sent by First Class Mail but I'd personally recommend Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested to provide proof of delivery.

Based upon what you stated in your first posting, your tenants are making an effort to move but they probably know the law better than you do and know that you have not served legal Notice to Quit and that the law and time are on their sides.

Until you get off of your lazy @ss and get moving the proper LEGAL way there is NO WAY to force them out of the property. If they want to play hardball and force you to go through eviction proceedings it's going to be October or November before you can get them out. They'll be able to quash the eviction proceedings simply by notifying the court that they have moved out as you requested. They can wait until the last minute on this and leave you holding the bag with the costs and no eviction on their record.

Answer 7

Legally they don't have a right to still be in your home without a current lease. However it is the home owners responsiblity to give them an option to renew their lease 30 days before the lease expires or if it is not your choice to renew the lease - 30 days before the lease expired you should have been sending them something in writing stating that you plan to take back right of possession of your home and give them 30 days to move.
More than likely now you will have to file and eviction to get them out, especially if they are trying to pay you rent. Go to COURT, do it the right way.

Answer 8

You still need to go to court if the tenant does not vacate voluntarily, and you should not wait for them to move. Otherwise, you'll be sitting here in December wishing you had filed the papers in July. From your district justice it sounds like there is a rebuttable presumption of notification validity in your jurisdiction (for email replies) and that the tenant would have the burden of proving he never received notice (which would probably be very difficult at this point). Non-repudiation and key certificates are usually left for different types of agreements (EDI, cryptomail, etc) and only rarely surface in litigation. Worst case, you can have new notice served in hand with a constable's certified return, locking in that date of notice, assuming your earlier attempt is voided. In any case, your month-to-month is presumed after the lease, if the hold-over tenant stays and continues offering to pay rent. However, under the terms of your non-renewable lease, you could probably have evicted him on the final day of that agreement.

Answer 9

You need to ask yourself "What is the safest way to do this?" If you move your stuff in, they could call the cops on you for trespassing and then you'll have a mess. There are many laws protecting tenants. You will be inviting a fight, or worse, and lots of people have guns these days.

Be very careful and call the cops. Call the courthouse too and get an eviction notice. I did a search in 3 seconds and found this resource to help you out: http://www.easyevictionnotice.com/ You must serve them with an eviction notice. Tape this to their front door and give them a deadline.

Look at your own lease. Is there a month to month conversion at the end? Most leases do. They may have a legal case if your lease converts to a month to month lease after the term ends. If it does not have this provision and they have not paid you rent, they are trespassing.

And yes, the cops WILL throw them out for you. Call them, tell them you have a trespasser in your house (who may or may not have a gun) and they will come and physically take them out of the house. Once they're out, change the locks and get their stuff out of there.

Your best bet is to go over there, tell the tenant that you are serving them with an immediate written eviction notice then call the cops and have the cops physically remove them. Also tell them that when they bond out of jail that the locks will be changed and all of their stuff will be on the lawn. Have some friends with you when you go and do not leave them alone in your house. They may trash it while leaving and then you're even worse off.

Don't just go over there unprepared. Have legal documentation, a few witnesses with you and the cops.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Why don't you want to go to court and have them removed legally? With some people you have to go that route. That is why that's the only answer you will get unless you do it illegally and that will get you in trouble. The police or sheriff will remove them if the judge directs them to, but you must go to court with the lease. It might cost a couple dollars but I assume you have their security and they can't get it back until they leave your house the way it was when they moved in.