Judge screws me on eviction of contract for deed

[rcardin]

Went to eviction court yesterday because my tenant on contract for deed has not paid her payments in 2 months. Pleaded my case to the Judge and he dismissed it completely. He told me I didn't give her 60 days notice to cure the default.

Under Texas Property Code it only requires 30 day notice which I had given her unless she had made 48 payments or had 40% interest in the property, in which case it would require a 60 day notice. She has only been there since St 06. He told me I could re file after the 60 days. Great another 65.00 file fee.

Beware of changing laws in your state and how they could effect your income. I will now be out at least 4 months holding costs and 2-3k in rehab.

 

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[Russ H]

rcardin-

The judge has to abide by the law unless he sees extenuating circumstances, which would be mentioend in his verdict.

Did you have the relevant sections of the property code there? How could he dismiss if you followed the letter of the law?

Were there extenuating circumstances? I can tell you from our experience-- we had a tenant who refused all of his certified mail-- and when the PO finally delivered it and left it in his box, HE NEVER OPENED IT.

He knew what it was.

Bought him an extra 45 days when we finally figured out what was going on.

Fooled us once. It won't happen again-- he's gone, but we'll make sure we hand-deliver if this comes up in the future.

-Russ H.

 

[MonTexan]

What a dick.

I send a certified letter AND have my guy tape a copy to their front door. Take pictures if necessary.

 

[hatterasguy]

That sucks.

 

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[rcardin]

I did not do my due diligence. If I had studied the property code I might have been able to call him on it.
I thought my contract was pretty bullet proof. It clearly states that if she falls behind on payments she becomes a tenant and we have the right to use disposessory laws.
Looks like I will re file and make sure the court date is beyond 60 days to suit the judge but will also bombard him with paperwork and statutes. I can either hire a lawyer, and so far none want to mess with a contract for deed, or take on the system and hope for the best. :smx6:

 

[kwerner]

From what I've read before, I thought selling on a contract-for-deed in Texas was considered highly risky anymore. Didn't Texas pass a law in '05 or '06 that pretty much screwed investors using contracts-for-deeds?

 

[Russ H]

What a dick.

I send a certified letter AND have my guy tape a copy to their front door. Take pictures if necessary.

Doesn't help if they never come in the front door.

All kinds of creative ways when you're flakey!

-Russ H.

 

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[MonTexan]

All kinds of creative ways when you're flakey!

Very true Russ! There are plenty of "professional tenants" out there. Got to be sure you do things by-the-book and carry a nice umbrella policy. Can't let these things scare you off though...the real estate game is just too much fun!

 

[Russ H]

Can't let these things scare you off though...the real estate game is just too much fun!

Agreed!

-Russ H

PS Hey, Montexan-- I thought Thomas Jefferson said "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have". And Sam Goldwyn (the "G" of MGM) said "The harder I work, the luckier I get" (I'm guessin' you're just trying to see if we're payin' attention, eh? ).

 

[MonTexan]

I thought Thomas Jefferson said "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have". And Sam Goldwyn (the "G" of MGM) said "The harder I work, the luckier I get" (I'm guessin' you're just trying to see if we're payin' attention, eh?

Sure enough....it seems that quote has been attributed to numerous folks. Evidently the first time I saw it, it was attributed to Benjamin. Since he is on my favorite bill, I'll give him the credit. atriot:

 

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[Russ H]

Sure enough....it seems that quote has been attributed to numerous folks. Evidently the first time I saw it, it was attributed to Benjamin. Since he is on my favorite bill, I'll give him the credit. atriot:

Shoot, and here I thought you were giving us all some kind of wacky fastlane test for familiar quotes! :smx4:

-Russ H.

 

[Russ H]

Since Benjamin Franklin is on my favorite bill . . . atriot:

Yeah, I like Benjamins, too.

But have you seen one of these babies? :smxB:

-Russ H.

 

[EastWind]

Yeah, I like Benjamins, too.

But have you seen one of these babies? :smxB:

-Russ H.

must be fake, it doesn't have my picture on it.

 

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[hatterasguy]

This is why people go commercial. If a commercial tenant stops paying on the lease change the locks, and kick their crap to the curb.:coolgleamA:

 

[rcardin]

UPDATE:

Went to court again today armed with a full page statement of the facts that I just read word for word. I quoted all of the relevant property code and what we were looking for in a judgment. Her response was " He didn't give me a 60 day notice." The judge asked how much she bought the house for and how much was owed and I had my amortization schedule handy along with the note to secure deed. Since she wasn't there for 4 years and had not accumulated 40% equity he ruled that 30 days notice was sufficient. Funny he didn't rule that way last time.
Judgment for me in the amount of 1950.00 and posession of the house in 5 days.

Hopefully she will just move out so I don't have to get a writ of posession, otherwise another 85.00 filing fee and waiting on a Constable so I can put her shit on the curb.

 

[Tiffany]

UPDATE:

Judgment for me in the amount of 1950.00 and posession of the house in 5 days.

Hopefully she will just move out so I don't have to get a writ of posession, otherwise another 85.00 filing fee and waiting on a Constable so I can put her shit on the curb.

Congratulations on the judgment. Hopefully, you'll see that last of her in 5 days.

Here in California, a friend of mine recently won a judgment to get rid of a "professional non-paying" tenant. Even then, she still couldn't get rid of them until she bribed them with $1500 "to help with the deposit" for their supposedly next apartment leasing. That sucks!

All my tenants have subsidized housing vouchers and when one is late in rent, I'll just contact Housing Authority (govt. office who issues those vouchers) to deal with it.

HA is a little painful to deal with sometimes but they enforce many conditions (some are favorable to landlords) in order for tenants to continue to qualify for their vouchers.

Currently, vouchers are not being given out anymore where I am so it's getting harder to get tenants with vouchers to replace the ones who will eventually leave.

Tiffany

 

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[RealOG]

Lots of folks go through the difficulty of eviction and civil lawsuit to get a tenant out and get their money back. By the time all the fees are paid and sheriff's come through, you are hopelessly underwater.

Consider offering the tenant money to leave the apartment. Most tenants don't pay because they have no money. Dangling $500 and a lease termination agreement in front of them is often an easy way to contain damage.

Most folks have a gag reflex when someone suggests that, but think about the cost of eviction process, fees paid to court and sheriff's for a forcible detainer/set out, damage to the premises from angry tenant, and lost rent. $500 is a business expense.

This has become standard fare for most of my evictions of lower-middle and up tenants.

Business is business. Do the math and make the choice.

 

[bflbob]

I've heard the same thing with low-end tenants and a couple cases of beer.

"When you hand me the keys, there are a couple cases of beer with your name on them."

Seems to work in some situations.

 

[NoMoneyDown]

I've yet to evict a tenant (knock on wood) but have come very close. The threat of all the bad things that the tenant will endure usually suffices to get them out, but a few needed a little extra "shove" (the worst being I ate a month's rent and had to pay the tenant's late utility bills). I guess I've just been lucky in screening extra hard up front and having tenants that haven't gotten a stroke of bad luck in their lives (e.g., job loss, divorce) while living in my properties.

 

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[rcardin]

I was at the point of offering her a security deposit and first months rent just to get her out. Fortunately the judge took care of it for me.

 

[Sparlin]

I haven't read the whole thread, but is there any recourse in case she decides to destroy the house before leaving? Is it a provision of the final order that she not devalue the property in any way? I know it would be a criminal matter, but would you have to file civil suit again?

 

[Bobo]

Fooled us once. It won't happen again-- he's gone, but we'll make sure we hand-deliver if this comes up in the future.

-Russ H.

No, you won't Russ because I like you and would miss you. You go ahead and eat $100 and have him served by a process server, let the server get his a$$ shot.

Judges are horrific at knowing the law sometimes, you have to have a copy there with the relevant portion highlighted. Even then, they have a tendency to wing it.

 

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[hatterasguy]

Glad you got it sorted out, sometimes tenants are tough.

I fully agree with greasing someone to move out. Paying them $500 or even $1k to get lost is usualy a heck of a lot cheaper and faster than the other options.

 

[hakrjak]

Thanks for the info RCardin -- I only have 1 contract for deed out there, and it's for a piece of land that the buyer doesn't live on -- it's just recreational ag property. My Contract for Deed states that if they ever become 2 weeks behind on payments, the contract is immediately void, and they lose all interest in the property so that I can sell it again to someone else right away. Hopefully I don't run into any trouble... (Also it's in Wyoming for CFD's carry a lot of weight, it seems)

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

[Russ H]

No, you won't Russ because I like you and would miss you. You go ahead and eat $100 and have him served by a process server, let the server get his a$$ shot.

Judges are horrific at knowing the law sometimes, you have to have a copy there with the relevant portion highlighted. Even then, they have a tendency to wing it.

Sorry, missed this last time.

Didn't mean to suggest I'd actually do the delivering. That's what process servers are for!

-Russ H.

 

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