How to legally evict a tenant

As a business owner you have to safeguard your investments. If you are in the business of renting out property space sometimes your client (or in this case renter) can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. A tenant who does not follow the guideline set forth in the lease agreement should be evicted. Of course it is not always simple. Below you will find more reasons for why a tenant can be legally evicted.

Breaking the lease agreement
In many cases a tenant can be legally evicted if they do not follow through with the agreements that were made at lease signing. Lease wording and rules will vary from rental unit to rental unit and it is important that your rental agreement be well organized and detailed for this very purpose. Common additions to a standard lease agreement are: whether or not to allow pets, smoking, multi-family occupancy, or subleasing. Another important thing to consider with your lease is how lenient you will be willing to be with offenders. Whatever policy you decide on make sure that your renters are made aware of your expectations and that you follow through with set consequences.

Failure to pay
The most common reason for legally evicting a tenant is if they fail to pay the designated rent amount. When a lease is signed the renter agrees to pay a set amount by a set date every month. Failing to pay the rent amount in its entirety is perhaps the most common cause for eviction. Some property owners will allow for late payment but have a fine attached that grows incrementally until the rent is paid. When your tenant fails to pay rent, as in all cases of possible eviction, it is important that the tenant receive written notification that unless rent is paid within a said amount of days the eviction process will begin.

Destruction of property
Obviously you do not allow for a tenant to maintain occupancy if they are or have caused serious damage to the rental unit and refuse to pay for the damages. A renter agrees that at the end of the term of the lease the apartment will be left in the same condition as it was before the tenant moved in (taking into consideration normal wear and tear). You may have taken a rental deposit when the lease was signed but many times belligerent renters who cause damage will accumulate expenses much higher than those paid as a deposit. You should have a clause in the lease protecting you from such vandalism. Failure to maintain the property reasonably can lead to a legal eviction.

Failure to leave at the end of lease agreement or falsification of information
All rights as contained in the lease agreement are void at the end of the life of the lease or if the renters have falsified important identifying information on their application.

Take legal action if needed
Now that you know that the tenant can be evicted and that the law is on your side. How do you react when the tenant refuses to leave? If you have given the tenant notice that they are being evicted and have allowed a reasonable amount of time for them to vacate the premises and they have still not left, your case may be a matter for the court system. Many times however the laws of residency favor the resident, evicted or otherwise. Many times as the landlord you loose out on all of the opportunity costs associated with the unit as the court system may drag on for several months. When the judicial system has finally granted your eviction request and the tenants have refused to comply, an officer of the court will be responsible for physically escorting the tenants form the building.

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