Turning your home or second property into a source of income may sound like a wonderful way to generate a secondary source of revenue or a passive income, but it isn’t always smooth sailing. The residential rental market comes with its own set of obstacles for landlords and ensuring those monthly payments keep coming in to service your home loan or provide you with cash for living expenses.
Not every landlord is fortunate enough to have a consistent paying tenant, and there can be times where you need to cut ties and move on. While some tenants may see eye to eye and agree others may feel hard done by the situation and in those times going through the legal system is the better option.
So why do landlords often opt to pursue a court order eviction? We run through the most popular reasons.
When you may want to begin the eviction process
1. Nonpayment of rent
The most common reason for an eviction is naturally nonpayment of rent. The tenant is effectively living in the property for free, and the landlord is losing money every month through arrears. The longer the landlord waits, the more they stand to lose.
Most courts and judges are reasonable about this and make little exceptions to allowing a non-paying tenant to remain in the unit.
However, a landlord still has a duty to the tenant and if they are failing to provide a habitable dwelling and maintain the property then sometimes, nonpayment of rent is overlooked.
2. Lease violation
The second most common reason for a residential eviction is when a tenant violates a lease clause. These are stipulations that were agreed upon between the tenant and the landlord prior to moving into the property and is legally binding.
There are several violations that can allow the landlord to terminate the lease if the issue is not corrected quickly (anywhere from 3-30 days).
Here are the most common lease violations:
- Housing pets without permission
- Extended guests or unapproved occupants
- Unapproved subletting
- Not using the property for agreed purposes
- Repeated nuisance complaints by the neighbours
3. Property damage
There have been many horror stories of tenant damage costing landlords hundreds and thousands of Rands each year to repair. Tenants either damage property through ignorance, negligence and sometimes it is due to vindictive behaviour.
However, regardless of the motivations, if major damage is done to the property and there is proof at was wrongdoing by the tenant, that does give landlords grounds for eviction.
4. Illegal activity
Crime is a serious offence, and any unlawful activity on your property is grounds for eviction. When a resident is committing a crime, they violate the terms of the agreement, and you can take legal action to reclaim your property.
5. Expiration of contract
Renting is never a permanent arrangement, and every tenant knows that and while some may be prepared others might not be willing to change their residence when asked by the landlord. A tenant refuses to move out, and now you have a squatter.
If the lease has naturally expired or terminated, you have given the proper tenant notices; then the tenant no longer has any right to occupy the dwelling. This alone is enough of a reason to file an eviction action in court.
6 Health or safety violations
In a worst-case scenario, some tenants may turn your property into a health code violation which not only affects their wellbeing but those around them. If you’ve tried to sort it out with the tenant directly and the situation continues while the tenant is residing on the premises, you can file to have the tenant evicted.
Make sure your eviction process is legal
Evictions are never easy and should always be seen as a last resort, always try to come to terms with your tenant before moving into the legal process of eviction. If however, you feel like you have no choice, it is best t contact a professional eviction lawyer who can guide you through the process of a residential eviction.
Contact us
If you need advice on your eviction case or would like us to represent your eviction case, get in touch with Le Roux Attorneys
Good day guys….
We are having a big problem with a nigerian family of 6 who just do not want to move out of our back house. We have actually given them notice of evictions via our attorney twice, but rescinded them since tenants came to us pleading for time to let children finish school year. We also luckily signed an agreement with them to move out by december 30 2019 and they agreed. But they are still there today. Can we send another eviction notice via sheriff through our attorney as these people are dodging rent and the man has physically abused an autistic child which was on facebook and social media last year. They also buy phones and have tablet and laptops and flaunt it yet dont want to pay rent and move. They also laugh when we want to pick up rent as they are aggressive in attitude and and they have no increase in the 7 plus years they are there. My parents are pensioners and this is only source of income….PLEASE HELP.
Thank you