5 tenants who landlords should hold off on evicting
Mortgage companies want their money, too
Eviction court. Legal fees. Affidavits. Payment ledgers. Bankruptcy checks. Bylaws. Rental agreements. There is absolutely positively nothing less fun for landlords (and condo boards) than the paper pushing involved in evicting someone for not paying rent (or condo assessments). In a perfect world, that tenant (or association member) will find a reasonable payment plan or a new job, and the missing funds can magically be paid.
Although tenants seem to be under the impression that all landlords are loaded and housing is a human right, the mortgage department of banks don’t see it that way. Whether the tenant pays or not, the bank wants their mortgage payments on time and in full. And that’s not including the landlord’s own mortgage and bills. So when a tenant doesn’t pay, those fund complications travel down to the landlord. (Although the popular opinion is all housing is owned by filthy rich companies, the truth is 72.5% of single-unit rental properties are owned by individuals. However, 69.5% of properties with 25 or more units are owned by for-profit businesses.)
Recommended Read: “If you hate all landlords, why rent? ~ Edgar Moncayo's death is tragic regardless of tenants' views about property owners”
But for either group, when the lease is created, a voluntary agreement was made on both sides that should abide by state laws when it comes to repairs, security deposits, rental arrangements, pet clauses, etc. When one party doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain, it’s not fair to the other. Imagine going to work tomorrow and your boss tells you to work, but she’s not planning to pay you — for months. How long would you stay at that job before you start looking for an exit door?
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Exceptions to the eviction rule
However, I was recently hired to write a plea letter for a tenant in New York who was living in an assisted living unit. He’d lived in this location for more than 17 years and found out he had a health crisis. Because medical procedures cost so much in the United States (if you’ve never seen Michael Moore’s “Sicko” film from 2007, you should), he flew to his home country for a few months of care.
While he was gone, he rented his unit out via Airbnb to make sure he paid rent on time. The problem? Vacation rentals are banned for assisted living units. He was sent an eviction letter. That was the first of four times where I thought landlords may want to bend the rules.