Posted on 09/29/2002 3:48:46 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
I'm so furious, I can't see straight, forgive me if this is scrambled. I need your help. Mr. S_S and I own the home directly adjacent to us, which we rent out. We have sucessfully managed three previous tennants with no problems; two whom we knew, and one acquired via a rental agency. This spring, we used the same rental agency to find the current rentors.
After the company approved them, we found out that-
They flat *lied* on their lease agreement about their jobs, income, previous addresses and reason for leaving, and about how many people were going to occupy this house.
The 'credit check' area of the lease was left blank by the rental company, leading me to think none was performed; and when the problems began and I called this company to complain, I was basically told that it wasn't their problem anymore, and 'tough sh*t'. I went to the county clerks office, filled out a 72-hour eviction notice 4 months ago and stuck it on their door, for failure to pay rent in a timely fashon. The rent was paid within 12 hours, and rather then involve the law, we [dumbly] decided to overlook it.
The first month, and with every additional month, the rent was late. By late, I mean typically 4-6 weeks overdue-This group has the bad luck to have some type of calamity befall them the first week of each month which prevents the $$ being available. Someone hurting themselves, a birthday, a sister in the hospital, etc, etc.
They are a family of...uh... "_______-American" decent, loudly drinking/yelling/partying/fighting 3-5 nights/week [many past midnight], while waking my children and keeping me up many of these nights. The property looks awful with the beer cans, ciggy butts and trash strewn all over, they've broken the gate leading into the yard beyond reasonable repair, and I am not even planning on going INside the home without Mr. S_S with me.
I should mention that 95% of these problems with noise and drunken behavior happens when Mr. S_S is out of town.
Last night, he was home. 2am, they were outside my bedroom window, music thumping, loud yelling, etc. He stuck his head over the fence, told them to shut up. They didn't. He called the cops, within 2 minutes of that call, they quieted down. I was glad they were out for the night. He was wondering at the chances of them shutting up right after the call was made. About thirty minutes later, two of them were fighting over the beer, again, right outside my bedroom window. We were afraid that they were going to try to drive the truck, and being 'drunk', may end up plowing it through the bedroom instead. Mr. S_S stuck his head out again, told them to 'shut-the-****-up' this time, came to me, brought me my Taurus .357, holstered his Rueger .45, handed me the phone, and told me to call the police; these guys that were fighting were pissed now, and he was ready to fire if it looked like there was going to be trouble.
I called LEO, and while I was on the phone, the ***** next door yelled outside, "shut up, they're calling the cops right now".
They are monitoring our phone calls with some sort of a ******* scanner. My engineer brother-in-law came over and told us that our phone was at a frequency to high for a normal 'bought at RadioShack' scanner to pick up, so it may be a police scanner.
WTF am I going to do NOW??
These rentors are minorities, on welfare, and seem to think that as such, they are entitled to ignore the rules. Mr. S_S wants to evict them, using *ahem* unspecified "methods" that won't point back to him. These people are pissed at us, and honestly, I'm scared, mainly because of my little ones being here with me, and because Mr. S_S is gone so much of the time. People have told me basically that I'm screwed, because they are minorities, on welfare, blah, frickin' blah blah blah...
I am scared to death. I really, really, really need some advice, help, anything to point me to where I can find if I have any rights in this.
Whatever you do however, don't burn the place out like others here have suggested. Arson is a serious crime and these scumbags are not worth going to jail over.
*sigh*
It's scary that it doesn't sound like a parody these days.
Humm, interesting. Older cordless phones were in a couple of frequencys. 45-49 area and 900mzh area. The lower frequency was able to be monitored by a scanner. The 900 was not without modifactions (sp)(some were scrambled too). The newer 2.4 gig phones are not only near impossible but most are also scrambled signals. Older cell phones were often available to listen to in the 800 mzh range with scanners, but the newer ones are either scambled or use a frequency that is not usually monitored by store bought scanners.
My best bet is they did not actually hear your phone call, but heard the police radio each other via a police frequency. It doesn't matter how secure your phone calls are to the police, often the police use an unscrambled frequency to communicate. Drug dealers love to monitor those frequencys (so do I for that matter, but not for drug reasons, my dad works for the power company).
Just my two cents...
Low OiL
The landlord's remedies
When rent payment is past due, the landlord may give notice to the tenant that he or she has three days in which to pay or move out. If the tenant has breached the rental agreement in some other way, the landlord may give notice that the tenant has seven days in which to correct the breach or move out. If the tenant does remedy the breach, but is served a second seven-day notice of breach within six months, he or she must move at the end of the seven days, without opportunity to correct the problem. In the event that the tenant fails to move when required by proper notice (including proper 30-day notice), the landlord must seek a court order, or "Writ of Restitution," for a legally authorized eviction.
The law also entitles the landlord to sue for damages or injunctive relief when necessary.
I'm guessing that everything you'll need is in these lines, as well as in your contract with them. Go over both with a fine-toothed comb (and a bulldog of a lawyer), and get them out as soon as possible. Don't let that .357 Taurus out of your reach until they are gone... and even after.
Good luck, Sweet Sunflower!
S_S, let's look closer:
If the tenant has breached the rental agreement in some other way, the landlord may give notice that the tenant has seven days in which to correct the breach or move out.
If the tenant does remedy the breach,
but is served a second seven-day notice of breach within six months,
he or she must move at the end of the seven days, without opportunity to correct the problem.
This looks like the golden opportunity to me.
We had minorities doing the same thing and they threatened lawsuits but they never did anything and sccesfully kicked them out in 30 days because the case is airtight and the authorities are involved.
Don't leave the dog alone (take care of him). Let the lawyer fend for himself.
AND....they are right. Thank the "Civil Wrongs Act of 1964" for this.
I cant tell you how many time I have thrown all of the trash and belongings to the curb for these people to pick up when they don't get the messsge! (with the Sheriff right behind backing me up)
Remeber the rules are there for you to take advantage of as well, not just for the welfare recipients..
You could not get away with that where I live. The tenants themselves could rip the doors of the unit and then call authority's who would inform you that if you did not replace there doors then you were going to be in deep trouble. The tenants can trash the house....Rip lights of the ceiling...whatever...Then they call the health department and you get a notice that your the landlord are in violation of state law. If you don't fix it you will be finned, and you cannot rent the property again until they tell you it is OK. By the way...once the tenant calls the health department you can not evict them due to so called "Retaliation Laws". If you evict them after you have received notice then you are break and even more serious law and your goose is cooked.
Or how about this....The tenants trash is piling up outside and attracting rats. The health department gets wind of it. Guess who gets the notice of violation...Yep the landlord. Clean up the trash or else.
There is no justice anymore. The law does not allow it. Of course your best chance is to get a lawyer who is going to charge you $200 to $400 dollars an hour. If your tenants have little or no income then they can apply to legal aid who will pitch a half dozen of there lawyer against your lawyer...driving up your cost. The cost to the teannant...Zero...Zip...notta...That comes out of your taxes. Like I said...no justice...Just laws that protect criminals.
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