Is it okay to take possession of the house if the tenant left for two weeks?

Question

This is a section of the agreement which was signed by the tenant:
Abandonment is defined as absence of the Tenant from the premises for a period of seven (7) or more consecutive days while rent or any owing monies remain unpaid - whereupon Tenant will be considered in breach of this Agreement. If Tenant abandons the House during the term of this Agreement, the Landlord may enter the House by any legal means, without being liable for such entering, and without becoming liable to the Tenant for damages caused upon entering. Landlord may consider any personal property belonging to the Tenant and left on the property to also have been abandoned, in which case the Landlord may dispose of all such personal property in any manner the Landlord deems proper without becoming liable to the Tenant for doing so.

If the tenant left for 2 weeks and paid zero rent and allowed his cousin to live in the house while tenant is gone, can the landlord force people living in the house out on the street?

Answer 1

Yes. If you received no money for rent, you can legally prevent further use of the premises. If you were informed by the tenant of the potential prolonged absence, it becomes a sticky wicket. The cousin can be requested to vacate. If you are aware of the reason for the absence of the tenant, and have a channel for communication with this person, how about contacting him, and informing him of the legal action available to you. I think it's pretty insensitive of you to lock him out without contacting him. If you have a negative history with this guy, I can understand that you are possibly using this opportunity for retribution. Be kind. Think good thoughts. We, none of us, can predict how the future will provide for us.

Answer 2

I do believe that landlords can restrict how long people may visit. If the cousin is not on the lease, then the landlord can ask the cousin to leave. I have seen apartment complexes call the police to have long time visitors removed. Of course, there were other circumstances going on in those cases.

I am not sure how long the rent has to go unpaid before they can evict. According to this, it sounds like if the rent is a week behind and the tenant is not in living in the place during that time then the landlord can considered the place abandoned. If the cousin is not named in the lease then the cousin cannot be considered a tenant.

Answer 3

You have 2 separate problems here.

Problem 1. Someone not on your lease is living in the house. State laws vary but your first option should be to ask them to leave. If they do not you should call the police and see it they will remove them. They probably will not.

Problem 2. You have unpaid rent. The ONLY way you can evict someone for unpaid rent is with a court order called an Unlawful Retainer. Again state laws vary on how you get this order but all states require a court order before you evict someone. The time to get an unlawful retainer vary by state.

The unlawful retainer will name the person on the lease and ALL OTHER PERSONS in the property.

Get a lawyer to help you. If you do it wrong YOU could end up paying the tenant money.

Answer 4

So your saying that the tenant owed you rent prior to him leaving for 2 weeks?

Definitely contact an attorney to make sure and sure as to what you can do with the tenants personal property.

Answer 5

To protect yourself, you really need to file a dispossessory with the Magistrate's court. Once you receive the writ of possession, then you can toss the stuff to the curb without recourse.

Answer 6

I would contact your lawyer, I always thought it was thirty days, but if it's unpaid I'm not sure, every state has different laws concerning renting.