WA Need some advice from experienced landlords re: Eviction

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Joe Moplen, 23rd Dec, 2019.

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  1. Joe Moplen

    Joe Moplen New Member

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    Hello,

    I am a first home owner who has been really burnt with some horror tenants this year. All I can say is I just can't believe people can be this dishonest and bad. I was looking for some advice as to the best course of action moving forward.

    At the moment, the tenants have failed to adhere to a court order which has given them a date to leave. I know my next move is to get the bailiff involved. I had a few questions regarding this that I was hoping some experienced property owners could help me with.

    1.) Unfortunately, I have been taken by hoarders. What are my rights in terms of the stuff that I think will inevitably be left behind? I understand I have to store it for a period of time but I am unclear as to how?

    2.) What are the terms they are they allowed to come back onto the property to retrieve their things? Surely they are not allowed to just wonder in, whenever they feel like? What should I do if they turn up on the property unannounced after the Bailiff has evicted them?

    3.) Once the bailiff comes in and returns the property to me, is this the point I can actually legally enter my property and assess the damage? What is the first thing I should do in this situation?

    This is an extremely distressing and anxiety provoking time. I have given these tenants every opportunity under the sun to not escalate this matter to this point (for over 12 months) however they obviously just dont give a **** and want to try and ride me for as long as hard as possible. I need to know what the best course of action is moving forward, from someone else who has been in this situation.

    Thank you in advance for any advice you are able to offer me.
     
  2. kierank

    kierank Well-Known Member

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    Talk to your Property Manager.
     
  3. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    ...and your LL insurance provider

    The Y-man
     
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  4. Mel Morgan

    Mel Morgan Sydney Property Manager Business Member

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    I'm not sure experienced property owners/landlords can help you since they will likely have had property managers acting on their behalf.

    Assuming you don't have a property manager and were self managing, I would look to appoint an experienced agent moving forward so they can guide you out of this mess and prevent it from happening in future.

    What state are you in?
     
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  5. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    The way i'm reading this is you may be looking after this property yourself if so what help has your landlord insurance been so far? i just hope the lease you have place is up too date ..I would not worry about the storage just now that may be covering all the walls that been smashed..
     
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  6. Joe Moplen

    Joe Moplen New Member

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    Yes, unfortunately I have tried to manage this myself and it has gotten out of control. I have learnt my lesson and will definitely be using an agent moving forward but I need to get out of this mess first before any agent will touch it of course...

    Thanks for the replies so far
     
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  7. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    i would be thinking the other way and find a PM that will help you ,a few phone calls to different RE companies and step back and let the insurance and the new management sort it out imho..
     
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  8. Ted Varrick

    Ted Varrick Well-Known Member

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    Joe, if a court order has been issued and the tenants have ignored it, then you should be also having this discussion with your lawyer (assuming you have one), as they will be able to provide with some options.
     
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  9. kierank

    kierank Well-Known Member

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    We self-managed our first IP and one day our tenant decided to stop paying rent.

    We went to a property manager and said, if you are prepared to sort out our mess, we are prepared to appoint you as our PM.

    They accepted our proposal and, 19 years later, they still manage this property plus 4 others that we purchased over the years.

    Never had a problem tenant since in any property in our portfolio as that property was the first and only one we self managed.
     
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  10. sash

    sash Well-Known Member

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    A couple of things...cut these tenants no break....

    1. Serve them with an eviction notice. Follow the correct process in your state.

    2. If they fail to leave get the sheriff to change the locks.

    3. Hopefully they leave when they get the sheriff's notice..it happened to me once and they left. If they do get an order as an abandoned property that way you can dispose of any property left behind. Be careful on this one in Victoria.

    4. Never...never let tenants take you this..way...it is business...I have learnt the hard way. The left over possessions or clean-up is not covered under your landlords policy.

     
  11. TMNT

    TMNT Well-Known Member

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    Ive never done this before by asking a new pm to sort out the mess, however my gut feeling is that i cant imagine every agent jumping at this opportunity
     
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  12. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    1) There's rules on what needs to be done in the relevant tenancy Act.
    2) Your consent generally. Call the police on your trespassers I guess.
    3) Probably. Although you could have used any of the other rights to access the property during the currency of the tenancy agreement as well to do this. Maybe the first thing is what you said - assess the damage.

    Seriously though, if you have no idea what you're doing, why are you self managing?
     
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  13. kierank

    kierank Well-Known Member

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    This was the first AND last time we self-managed. TBH, I don’t know but you could be right. Maybe we looked desperate :eek:.

    We like to reward good people who do the “right” thing by giving them repeat business. Hence, as a reward, they now managed five of our IPs.

    In 2011, we gave them a little “bonus”. We were knocking down our PPOR and re-building. We were looking for a place to rent but had no job (retired) and no recent rental references (hadn’t rented for 30+ years). We gave them the first option to find us a place and they got us the ideal house for our needs. Another 8+ months of PM fees for them.
     
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  14. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    Dodgy tenants target self managed properties as most self managers don’t have access to the “ naughty tenants list “ . A good PM is good at screening .

    Name you suburb and someone might be able to suggest a PM .

    In areas where this is more common , the PM’s are familiar with what to do as its routine for them .

    Suggest you do as advised by some and contact a PM to advise you .

    For them it’s just business , not emotional as it is for you .

    cliff
     
  15. Michelle Evans

    Michelle Evans Well-Known Member

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    Some agents pick up disasters. I do it occasionally (only ever one at a time). It helps train staff on what the process is and you generally get a client for life after it’s all said and done.

    You need to pay for it though- anyone willing to take it on at discount rates, or no questions asked might be able to muddle their way through it all, but I doubt it would be getting you the best possible outcome.

    Good luck.
     
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  16. Propin

    Propin Well-Known Member

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    Hi Joe, call the department of commerce and ask for advice. I have been stuck with bad tenants even with having property managers. Time, serving notices, being assertive and knowing your rights helps. There was one set of tenants that I went through 3 property managers, starting with the one that took them on first. Only my persistance paid off. If you've had enough though maybe you should hand it on and back them up
     
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  17. jaydee

    jaydee Well-Known Member

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    Good advice!

    Even better to know it before you start self managing! I was initially going to suggest you follow this thru to the end given the steps you have taken with the courts and the experience you would gain, however, if you are not aware of your rights as a landlord to give notice to enter "your" property then I suggest you are probably best to leave it to a property manager. (However, there is nothing that a property manager can do that you as a self managing landlord can't do -it is just a question of understanding the process).

    As a self managing landlord who has had to deal with evicting a junkie tenant and damaged IPs, the experience ultimately is positive in focusing ones perspective on what is expected in a tenant/landlord relationship and how to manage it.

    If you want to keep self managing this property or another in the future, then firstly harden up, put the losses and emotion behind you, get the tenant out, refurbish and claim where possible on LLI and use the experience not to be a doormat in the future.
     

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