Landlord Question and Answer Forum

My tenant did not pay her rent on Dec 19th, I waited the 5 grace days aloud in lease and a couple more days because of christmas before I went out to collect the rent. It was aparrent on dec 27th that she had moved out. When I contacted her by phone she said that she was told she had to leave by some guy from the bank. (this was some field surveyer hired by mortgage company, "apparently"), who had no right to tell her to leave. I still own the house. Anyway, she didn't get all of her belongings until jan 5 plus carpet in all 3 bedrooms are absolutely destroyed by unauthorized cat. Do I have the right to keep $950 security deposit? PS, my relator is trying to track down who the field surveyer that was assigned to my house to address what he did.

Also, she said that she moved out on the 23rd. Do I list the 19th -23 rd on check out list as rent owed? We are getting quotes on what it would cost to replace carpets even though we do not plan on replaceing since we are trying to do a short sale. The carpets were less than 1 year old when we rented to her. I feel bad for what happened to her, but it was not my fault, she could have called me or the police when that guy told her to leave property.

Posted by Valerie K, MI on Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Intersting! You 're not fulfilling your obligation to the bank, yet you expect a tenant, who was notified by the bank that the property is in foreclosure, to meet theirs. Put yourself in the tenant's place. What would you do? And, you also want to keep the sec. deposit for damages you don't expect to repair! Maybe YOU should have notified tenant about the possible foreclosure and worked something out. She rented the unit in good faith. Given the information above, it was you that misled her. Tenants should not be looked at as "cash cows" and should be treated like LLs would like to be treated. I apologize, in advance, if some readers find this offensive, but I felt this needed to be addressed.

Posted by Stan M, CA on Saturday, January 23, 2010

um, well the house is on the market, she knew that. I still own the house. She knew that when I had a buyer she get at very least 30 day notice or more. Turns out the bank had no record of anyone going out to the house and I have to drop the price of the house by $10,000 because of the damage done by her UNAUTHORIZED cat. The lease says no pets, and she was on a month to month. I don't feel I miss led her, and I am offended. No thank you to your emotional response. I came her for some objective advise, guess it is the wrong forum.

Posted by Valerie K, MI on Saturday, January 23, 2010

Your msg title reads ".....pre-foreclosure home." You also failed to mention that you had a discussion with tenant. Question...was she given a letter stating what the terms would be if you had a buyer? Your statement "she get at very least 30 day notice or more" suggests that you did not. As a tenant, this would make me uneasy. Also, I find it interesting that the value decreased by $10,000 due to "cat" damages. As for your question about charging her for replacing the rug and not replacing it.....in CA (as well as other States) you are required to supply tenant a receipt showing the cost of repairs. As for the date on the check-out list...did she give you a 30-day notice? If not, you problably can deduct the rent and damages that are repaired from the sec.dpst. However, I feel she has a good case given the state of the property and the fact that many tenants have become victims to foreclosures.

Posted by Stan M, CA on Saturday, January 23, 2010