Our tenants have separated and had 3 months remaining on their lease. Even though they have been late with the rent more than once, my husband made a new lease with the remaining tenant for 6 months (up to April 1st). We've been in the house twice since then to replace the furnace. The first, two weeks ago, to inspect the furnace. And yesterday to take out the old one. Both times the house was filthy. I spoke with her last night and told her she needed to clean the house and keep it clean if she wanted to continue to stay there.We had just remodeled the entire inside of the house when they moved in. The carpet (new in January) looks like its never been vacuumed. Can I evict her for a filthy house?
2007-11-13 02:24:20 · 9 answers · asked by justme 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
The lease makes it tough. Also, you did not state where this is, local laws do vary.
Unfortunately "clean" and "filthy" are relative and subjective terms. Ask any teenager!
You can not evict over that, but you can over health or damage issues. If you saw signs of rodents you can evict. They are attracting mice or rats, both of which damage property 100% of the time. They can actually damage your wiring and cause a fire. While everyone has one every once in awhile (I had a mouse in my attic once!) you can tell if they are a chronic problem. In fact if you can see anything you know it is bad.
You can get her out on a few other housekeeping issues, but remember to keep them to "safety", which is less subjective then "clean". Grease in the kitchen, especially the air vent about the stove, can easily cause a kitchen fire. Anything flammable stored near that furnace is also a serious fire hazard.
Hopefully you will get some ideas on how to get the slob out legally!
2007-11-13 02:40:35 · answer #1 · answered by Landlord 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely.
If, that is, your lease mentions anything about keeping the property clean, sanitary, "in good condition," or whatever. Most of the leases I've seen have some sort of language like that.
If they fail to do so they're in violation of the lease. Take pictures, bring a witness if possible, do an inspection. Give them a time limit - ten days. Tell them you'll do it and bill them if they don't get it done. Remind them how much carpet costs.
Focus on the property. If they fail to clean the carpet, send in carpet cleaners and send the tenant the bill. Reason: you want to save your carpet, not wait until the tenant learns the error of his or her way while your carpet gets irreparably stained.
Many leases have a "all monies owed are rent" clause. If they fail to pay the carpet bill, they are late on their rent, and late charges apply.
2007-11-14 01:22:51 · answer #2 · answered by Sagebrush Kid 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope, if she wants a dirty house, she can have a dirty house. If vacuuming the carpet after she moves out takes care of the problem, then no big deal. If you have to steam-clean the carpet, then you can keep that amount from their security deposit.
It's very hard to evict a tenent, even when they don't pay the rent. Go to your local city building and ask for a copy of the landlord-tenent guidelines (I'm sorry I don't know what it's called) and it will spell out your rights and their rights. It's worth it!
2007-11-13 02:35:10 · answer #3 · answered by jt_eradicator 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
You cannot evict someone on the quality of their housekeeping, UNLESS that housekeeping is damaging your property. In other words, a carpet full of dust bunnies is simply a sloppy housekeeper. A carpet full of grape juice stains is damage to your property.
Ascertain which you have and proceed accordingly.
2007-11-13 03:13:21 · answer #4 · answered by acermill 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can try but she will win. If the house it not clean to you doesn't mean its not clean to someone else. If the lease doesn't specify that if the house is not clean to your satisfaction that she will be evicted then you need to wait til the lease is up and opt not to renew.
2007-11-13 02:35:54 · answer #5 · answered by tikababy 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm not sure of the legalities, but my friend leased the top portion of her home to someone who was so disgusting and filthy and she DID evict him because of it.
I don't blame her.
2007-11-13 03:05:46 · answer #6 · answered by Mimi 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only if the lack of cleanliness makes it a problem for the property. ie it attracts roaches or rats. Where I am anyway. Check your local laws. And your lease.
2007-11-13 02:34:16 · answer #7 · answered by walyank 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can evict the tenants if they violate city code of health laws. You might review your city health codes or visit them in person.
Of course, if your tenants damaged your property, then you have a case by default.
2007-11-13 02:31:30 · answer #8 · answered by Elliott J 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Unless it was spelled out in the lease agreement, no you can not. Unless, of course, a law is being broken (improper storage of dangerous materials, etc.) You can however, keep the security deposit.
2007-11-13 02:28:56 · answer #9 · answered by benvanzile 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋