At a loss on how to proceed... I have a resident just call me saying he was going to be incarcerated

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At a loss on how to proceed... I have a resident just call me saying he was going to be incarcerated... Not sure how long... He then tells me that his bank is set up to send us a check each month through bill pay...
I ask him about who will be caring for his 2 lrg Dogs... He says his ex-wife will be staying off & on to take care of his dogs.
Resident is month to month we have been fighting with him to get current on rent for a while. Which he did last week! We want him gone. Ex-wife not on lease...
What would you do?
**We chose to go with the non-renewal. He has been a problem resident for a long time.at the start of Covid he was 2 months behind on rent... We put him on several payment plans all of which he felt was bull, because the president was going to forgive all rents owed...his animals have caused thousands of dollars in property damage to his unit & his neighbors. Moving the ex-wife in was our last straw. *****

Give him a 60 day non- renewal

Jennifer Kotzur give it to him how if he is incarcerated?

Sorry about your criminal activity but we will not be able to accommodate that...... did they sign a crime fee lease addendum?? If he's now going to jail for something that would be a violation, is give a 30 day non renew

Tiffany Marquardt if he doesn't know how long he's going for and wants to keep paying monthly I guarantee you it's a civil incarceration. They give up to 6 months and it could be a few days to somewhere in the middle

Aaron Potier true. i had a resident who had to go to jail for drunk driving tickets. He was actually a great resident, never late on rent and quiet. In the end he gave notice and moved out because I think it was like #4 drunk driving so was serious jail time. None of these were felonies.

Kathi Marie Drunk driving was not a felony? After #4??? SMH.
Either way, nice guy or not, felony or not, he was still a criminal.

Cherry Garfield its a civil thing until #5 in our state and then its a felony. Since he caused no issues at the building and I have neither the time nor energy to ccap every resident on our court system for no reason (unless it is brought to our attention) then I see no reason to give that person a notice. Hes only bothering himself in the end.

Ask him to leave since he's mtm and is going to be incarcerated. How long is he going to be gone?

Estrella Santiago he did not know how long.

If you were in TX with a TAA lease I could point you to the paragraph... then you could do a three day NTV for the criminal behavior and unauthorized houseguest.

Erik McKinster you dont know its criminal

unpaid parking tickets then?

Aaron Potier right! Getting in to or assume something about people’s personal business is not ok.. I say at least he was being honest with her about it.

Non renewal. Easy peasy when MTM

Give him 30 days to move
Do you not have crime addendum

I would give him the 3 day NTV with his pending prison sentence.

If he is on mtm, give him a 30 day notice to vacate.

Yall are all assuming he's going to jail for a criminal issue. It could be a civil contempt which isn't a criminal violation

Terminate. Call animal control change locks

Paul Weubbe yeah and make the headlines on your local news channel. No good for business.

Do a little research, each state is different due to COVID but you may still be able to give a notice since he's mtm. Or, does your lease have anything about extended absences? Or unapproved tenants? With the CDC rules, and many states also enacting a moratorium it could be very difficult to terminate the lease under any condition, but hopefully you can find a way to make a smooth and easy transition.

Talk to your Community's attorney..that decision is not yours to make

Consult your attorney.

I assume you've already asked your legal team?

Isn’t there a criminal act clause in lease?

Going to prison - jail has a different law altogether!
Be careful walking on thin ice!

Since you did not renew lease and he is MTM, give a 30 NTV.

If they are month-to-month, why not send them a 30/60 NTV/Non-Renewal?

The answer lies in your lease and how it operates within local and state law landlord tenant law. Seek legal advice to create a policy so you don’t need to wonder how to handle it. An attorney vetted policy is the best practice. Treat everyone the same.

He won’t cause any trouble while he’s in jail

Man, I’d think it would be cheaper for home to put his stuff in storage and pay someone to foster the dogs, but maybe he’s worried he won’t qualify with his record.

Why not ask the ex to put in her application, then she is fine to be there if she passes. As someone stated above, you don't know why he is in jail, and also as stated above, check with your county or state laws or legal for COVID restrictions. Just because he will be incarcerated he may not fall under breaking any lease terms, and you could have a fair housing issue.

If he’s MtM why not just non renew him?

Well, if he robbed a bank or something to catch up on the rent, it may just be a matter of time before the authorities freeze his assets & he'll be behind again.

Non renewal is a good choice. Send him a 30 day notice to vacate.

Be careful with giving notice when you know if he is incarcerated he will not get it. Assuming he would then not be out after 30 days because he is in jail and did not know the notice was served, you file for eviction, he still does not get out because he did not get service and he is still in jail. you set his stuff out..
long story short, you win the battle but could loose the war when he sues you saying you knew he was incarcerated and therefore would not get proper service of any of your notices and you proceeded anyway..

Ellen Collier Maxime
Didn’t even think about that. Wow.

Tyler Waterman I had a similar situation except it was for cause and ended up getting service to them in Jail and had to go To the jail for the court hearing. The resident/inmate was in shackles as the judge heard the caae.

Ellen Collier Maxime thanks for the info we served it this morning. His ex answered the door. She said he hasn't gone to jail yet.

It sounds like there was plenty of reason to not renew the lease even without the criminality being involved in this equation. Even if he had said he was "going out of town" for awhile and his ex was moving in, that violates the lease.

Honestly, whether or not someone has committed a crime doesn't determine their ability to pay rent. That's an unfortunate part of our society, civil punishment for crimes. Someone who's committed a crime and served their time shouldn't be punished by society any longer by being restricted from getting a lease in the area they choose to live.

Sounds like you handled the situation as best as you could. Hopefully the ex can take the dogs and his stuff and he won't be homeless after he serves his time, because that's a slippery slope for a lot of folks.