I am worried about my niece. She bought a new house before she sold her old one.
She is now renting to her former next-door neighbor who has not been able to come up with enough rent to make the house payment, even though my niece is still paying utilities.
I've warned her that it may be hard to get this woman out ... I don't know how hard, but I'm thinking a couple of months anyway.
She's also been warned that if she stops paying utilities, she will be liable in some way because there are children in the house.
She needs a lawyer (a cheap one)
Tell her to keep paying the utilities.
Send a pay or quit notice immediately to the tenant, and have the eviction papers filled out and ready to deliver after the 9 days are up. 30 days to go to court, 3 days for the Sheriff to put the tenant on the curb.
Simple.
NO PHONE CALLS. NO TALKING TO THE TENANT. EVERYTHING IN WRITING, BUT NO VOICE CONTACT WHATSOEVER.
If you want, a lawyer will do it all for you. The most important thing, is to accept or return NO calls or messages from the tenant. He-said-she-said squabbles can slow everything down.