Evicting Tenants

[agnes_therese]

It bothers me because they are going to give her 30 days notice in March and they’ve been talking about this, picking out paint colors, buying dishes etc since October. The reason they are waiting until March is b/c he isn’t going to have enough to money until then. Had they told her in October that she had to leave in March, I wouldn’t be posting this.

I rent. I don’t want to buy, it’s not a jealousy thing. It’s the long term planning to kick her out with next to no notice after her living there for as long as she has that feels wrong to me. This person is somewhat self righteous and often talks about how others don’t do the right thing, he’s JW, so he’s always evangelizing and this just seems sneaky and underhanded.

But there is definitely a mixed bag of opinions here, so maybe I am wrong in feeling this way?

I don’t think you’re wrong. They should be honest with the renter. But they’re probably afraid she’ll leave early, and then the rent income will be lost.
I agree, it is underhanded.

 

[EasterJoy]

It bothers me because they are going to give her 30 days notice in March and they’ve been talking about this, picking out paint colors, buying dishes etc since October. The reason they are waiting until March is b/c he isn’t going to have enough to money until then. Had they told her in October that she had to leave in March, I wouldn’t be posting this.

I rent. I don’t want to buy, it’s not a jealousy thing. It’s the long term planning to kick her out with next to no notice after her living there for as long as she has that feels wrong to me. This person is somewhat self righteous and often talks about how others don’t do the right thing, he’s JW, so he’s always evangelizing and this just seems sneaky and underhanded.

But there is definitely a mixed bag of opinions here, so maybe I am wrong in feeling this way?

Letting the tenant know now is the decent thing to do. This is a terrible time of year to find a new place, so the tenant may stay for the whole time, anyway, but it is the least the landlord can do for such a long-time tenant. What are they going to do, otherwise? Are they going to lie by pretending they didn’t know any sooner or are they going to be upfront about their callous and selfish decision to keep the information to themselves?

Nice. Very nice. Tell them to remind you not to rent from them, and that they would do well to walk their own talk about “doing the right thing.” There is nothing wrong with giving the property to the son, but deliberately leaving a long-time tenant in the dark in order to gain financial advantage is nothing to be proud of.

 

[EasterJoy]

I don’t think that sneaky and underhanded are necessarily the fair words to use in this situation and here is why.

The tenant could have approached the landlord and asked for a new lease too, and the tenant is also benefitting from the freedom of only having to give a 30-day notice and can also then move out. It is a two-way street. Not only that but let’s assume for a moment that this tenant is an average person that has everyday common sense. That means this tenant probably realizes that they will not be living in this house FOREVER. Life doesn’t work that way. This tenant knows that their landlord has family, that life changes, and that life circumstances change. The property could go up for sale, a family member could want to move in, many things could happen. It’s nice that the tenant has been able to live there for so long but nothing is a guarantee and I think it is foolish to believe that you would be guaranteed a place to live forever with no lease it is just not common sense. Therefore this tenant should not be surprised by the notice to move out.

The landlord is a person that has a son who she is hoping will get on his feet, get married and will move out and begin a new life. As his mother she loves him and wants to help give her son this start by helping him and his new bride by providing them with a roof over their head with a home that she owns. She is going to give her current tenant notice to move out. You are using the word evict but that is not the right word, she plans on giving her current tenant the proper notice. That is not an eviction, an eviction is where you kick someone out using the sheriff.

Ask yourself this. How long should she let her current tenant live there? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years? What would be a good enough reason to ask the current tenant to leave? I think the problem might be that you don’t like this son and perhaps he is lazy and maybe you like this tenant and therefore it seems unfair. Pray for this family, hopefully this will all work out. God bless you.

If I had a friend who had rented a place for ten years and she knew far in advance that she’d be moving and never said a word to her landlord until she gave her 30 days’ notice, I’d think that was pretty poor, too. (Not that some people do not have such nasty landlords that they are not inclined to give them any information the law doesn’t require, but still. Be better than that.)

Now a renter can say, “I think in April, but I have to find another place, first, and maybe I won’t move at all, so it is up in the air”, then they don’t have to say anything until they know something. If the truth is, “I’m getting married in April and moving into my new husband’s house right after the wedding,” then it would be decent to say so, so that the landlord can plan for all the work of getting the place ready to rent and finding a new tenant, or perhaps even putting the property on the market.

 

[Jenny35]

Ask yourself this. How long should she let her current tenant live there? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years? What would be a good enough reason to ask the current tenant to leave? I think the problem might be that you don’t like this son and perhaps he is lazy and maybe you like this tenant and therefore it seems unfair. Pray for this family, hopefully this will all work out. God bless you.

Well considering that earlier in the thread I said that I wouldn’t be posting this had they given her a few months notice, and I also started the thread by saying that the son is my friend, not the family, it seems as though you didn’t read the majority of what was written.

Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut anyway.

 

[Xantippe]

Jenny35 said:

“I also started the thread by saying that the son is my friend, not the family, it seems as though you didn’t read the majority of what was written.”

It doesn’t sound like you like your “friend” and you certainly don’t seem to respect him.

 

[Jenny35]

Jenny35 said:

“I also started the thread by saying that the son is my friend, not the family, it seems as though you didn’t read the majority of what was written.”

It doesn’t sound like you like your “friend” and you certainly don’t seem to respect him.

I don’t like what he is doing in this situation, that’s true. It’s quite a jump to say I don’t like him. This is the Internet, long backstories are not usually welcome, and I’m not asking for an opinion on the relationship. I was just asking for an opinion on my feelings on the situation. Other people have tried to turn it into more, state my intentions for me etc, as often happens on the Internet. I probably should have just mulled it over myself and not asked for public opinion.

Honestly, can you say that you like or agree with every major decision that all of your friends have made? And stating again, I never once said that I was going to discuss my opinions on his life decisions with him, nor have I expressed this opinion to anyone who knows him.

 

[Xantippe]

Jenny35 said:

“Honestly, can you say that you like or agree with every major decision that all of your friends have made?”

You haven’t said one good word about him.

I can imagine extenuating circumstances (mental illness, brain damage, being bad at math, being generous to a fault, being too trusting when people ask him to “invest” with them, wanting to help out his mom if the house is more than she can manage), but you didn’t provide any. So we’re just left with a picture of him as a parasitic, freeloading loser, which is going to color the advice you get and leave us wondering what you guys have in common. I think 1) either you are being unfair to him or 2) you need to find better friends.

 

[Xantippe]

Monicad said:

“Assumptions here could be too that this tenant is ideal or innocent. No one here knows that they have always paid their rent on time or have given this landlord problems. Perhaps this tenant has been a source of problems for a few years and this is a good time to part ways? Your feelings are based on what you know, but there also could be more that you don’t know such as this tenant might not be such a great person after all so the landlord might be looking forward to ending the relationship. I could be wrong here too just offering you that there could be more to the story.”

Exactly. The landlady may be primarily interested in getting a bad tenant out, rather than getting her son in.

Some of my elderly relatives are renting to some people who are apparently running a puppy mill out of the very small rental house. And that’s not even the worst possibility.

 

[Jenny35]

Jenny35 said:

“Honestly, can you say that you like or agree with every major decision that all of your friends have made?”

You haven’t said one good word about him.

I can imagine extenuating circumstances (mental illness, brain damage, being bad at math, being generous to a fault, being too trusting when people ask him to “invest” with them, wanting to help out his mom if the house is more than she can manage), but you didn’t provide any. So we’re just left with a picture of him as a parasitic, freeloading loser, which is going to color the advice you get and leave us wondering what you guys have in common. I think 1) either you are being unfair to him or 2) you need to find better friends.

You’re right, I’m a horrible person, very unfair and a very bad friend. And as usual, I very much regret looking for any insight at CAF.

 

[pensmama87]

You’re right, I’m a horrible person, very unfair and a very bad friend. And as usual, I very much regret looking for any insight at CAF.

Nothing of the sort was said to you at all.

Xantippe gives very good advice, but she is direct, which can be uncomfortable sometimes (been there myself. ). If we have a mistaken impression of your friend, of course you can provide more information that would help us. When other people offer advice, they’re going to consider the experiences they’ve had and that’s going to affect how they see you. A lot of people post on here about busybodies, so they might be extra sensitive about what could seem to be too much prying into someone else’s business. Several posters are landlords or know people who are and that’s going to affect their views too.

But of course you’re allowed to have your feelings, whatever they are. I’d be irritated by this situation too, and several posters have said they don’t think it’s a good idea for this landlord to do this, even if it’s legal and not sinful to do so. So that appears to me to be validation for you.

As for me, I learned some interesting information on the nuances of laws surrounding renting, and while I’m not a renter now, still good info to tuck away…

 

[Jenny35]

Nothing of the sort was said to you at all.

Xantippe gives very good advice, but she is direct, which can be uncomfortable sometimes (been there myself. ). If we have a mistaken impression of your friend, of course you can provide more information that would help us. When other people offer advice, they’re going to consider the experiences they’ve had and that’s going to affect how they see you. A lot of people post on here about busybodies, so they might be extra sensitive about what could seem to be too much prying into someone else’s business. Several posters are landlords or know people who are and that’s going to affect their views too.

But of course you’re allowed to have your feelings, whatever they are. I’d be irritated by this situation too, and several posters have said they don’t think it’s a good idea for this landlord to do this, even if it’s legal and not sinful to do so. So that appears to me to be validation for you.

As for me, I learned some interesting information on the nuances of laws surrounding renting, and while I’m not a renter now, still good info to tuck away…

Glad one of us was helped. I do however see more clearly than ever that I belong under the table. So maybe we were both helped.