Nonpaying Tenant
I issued my tenant a five-day notice, the five-day period has expired and she still has not paid rent. She's been in the house for three months and under the lease agreement she is responsible for all the utilities including the water bill. However, she has never had the services switched from my name to hers so I've been paying the water bill. I added the charge to the rent but she is not paying. Can I have the water turned off? Also, since she is in violation of her lease can I terminate and remove my possessions? I have a new stove and refrigerator in the house and I would prefer to put it another property.
Wow, this sounds like a serious situation. I don't know illinois law but once my 5 day period is over you submit a judge's order then a writ of possession. Also, I never wait to have a tenant turn on the utils, I simply tell them that by X date the utils will be turned off. Get her out of there, I wouldn't just remove your stuff and hope she leaves, read your state landlording laws.
[addsig]
i landlord in chicago, and deal with deadbeats constantly. NO! the illinois law states that you cannot remove anything from the apartment or turn off the water without a court order. you can actually be sued for this. all you can do is tell the utilities that you want the services taken out of your name, but if you are the legal owner of the building, the city won't do that with the water bill, since most of us pay the water bill. go to the courthouse yourself (daley center) and file an eviction for $175 in fees, claiming the amout owed to you under the lease agreement. a sheriff will serve her with a summons, you will get a court date, and in every case i have ever had, that is all that is required. somehow, when the sheriff serves a tenant, all of a sudden they start complying/coming up with money.
you might also just try to negotiate her moving after the summons, or before. i never get into wars with my tenants, and i have some very rough ones. ultimately, you have a lot more to lose than they do...they can trash your place if they get mad, and cause all kinds of havoc. if you think that this will likely end up in court, i would advise hiring a lawyer for about $650....there is a lot you can do wrong, and a judge would gladly throw the case out of court if you don't follow the law.
another depressing point...this can be about a 3 month process, and the general policy in chicago is that they don't do forceable evictions in the middle of winter.....so you have to wait until the early spring, realistically, to get her out. the judge will likely tell you that you will get a judgement for that extra time she is in there, but good luck collecting it. also, don't mess with peoples gas. they report to the credit bureaus.
also, the bible of landlording law with all the forms you would ever need is called landlord's rights and duties in illinois. go buy it. it has been VERY useful for me!
Thanks for the responses. I will file the eviction on Monday. The property is located in Harvey, IL so I'm not sure if I would still go to the Daley Center or City Hall of Harvey. Either way, I want her out so I can sell the house. This is my first property and I realize that I don't like being a Landlord.
Good info Erics, you've convinced me never to do rental properties in Chicago =)
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do a google search for "florida landlord 5 day notice" (substituting in your state) and you will find i on the internet. you will also find lots of links from counties that have easy to read instructions for landlords on how to do an eviction.
Brenda
Erics,
Since your house is in Cook County, you may be able to do the filing at the court house down there on Kedzie in Markham? Agree with the previous poster that sometimes negotiating with a tenant works, but still file anyway. There is a company in Chicago with great success in evictions, Legal Documents Services. In Chicago, do it right the first time, same is probably true in Cook Co.
pm me for the number.
You can get all the forms you need at the courthouse for usually $5. I would try to get them out then try to fight to get money from them for damages or anything like that. You can report them to a collection agency afterwards but I would try to get them out as fast as possible.
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