As much as we don’t want to admit it, the world runs on money. In the business world, when a client doesn’t make their payments, it can get the business into financial trouble. The same thing happens when a tenant doesn’t pay rent to their landlord because the landlord uses that payment to pay off the house and pay other important bills. All things considered, when this happens, it can cause a lot of problems. If you’re in this situation and your tenant isn’t paying rent, you may want to start the eviction process. (Related topics: New York real estate attorney, real estate lawyer NYC)
Talk to the Tenant
Before any further actions are taken, you should try to talk to your tenant. It’s great to be understanding of their situation, but remember that this is your business and you can’t be taken advantage of. You should also explain to them that without their payment, you’re not able to pay your own bills. During this talk, inform them that you’ll be sending them a formal eviction notice if they don’t pay. Hopefully a nice conversation will improve the situation, but not everyone gets that lucky.
Send a Notice
Most states require landlords to send a “Notice to Pay or Quit”. This is a formal letter or email that tells the tenant that they have a certain amount of days to pay rent or their lease will be terminated.
File an Eviction Action
The only legal way to get them out of your house is to file an eviction action. When you do so, you’ll need to file the proper documents with the help of a housing lawyer in NYC. Next, you and the housing lawyer in NYC will take the tenant to eviction court, explain the situation, and hopefully win. It’s very important to evict them legally, because it could cause problems if you illegally pressure them to leave. This includes changing the locks, turning off their electricity, or threatening them.
This process may sound easy, but there are many issues that could arise if the tenant fights back. For help during this process, make sure to hire our housing lawyer in NYC at Gary Wachtel.
