Do I have to give 30 day notice to tenant if I already let 30 days pass?

[crazysweetguy]

I have a rental in WV. HUD inspector determined that she has not been living at the unit for 3 months (due to water not on since January). Her electricity was shut off a week ago. She said she would move her stuff out promptly. 30 days has passed and her stuff is still there. She tells me that I need to give her a 30 day eviction notice and told me that she will get her stuff out in two weeks. She also tells me that she just got a storage unit on Monday. I put an eviction notice on her door with the date to move out which was yesterday. She already admitted that she had not been staying there. If I send a certified mail eviction notice then what is the minimum amount of time I have to give her since she already had time to get her stuff out?

 

[sandyclaus]

I have a rental in WV. HUD inspector determined that she has not been living at the unit for 3 months (due to water not on since January). Her electricity was shut off a week ago. She said she would move her stuff out promptly. 30 days has passed and her stuff is still there. She tells me that I need to give her a 30 day eviction notice and told me that she will get her stuff out in two weeks. She also tells me that she just got a storage unit on Monday. I put an eviction notice on her door with the date to move out which was yesterday. She already admitted that she had not been staying there. If I send a certified mail eviction notice then what is the minimum amount of time I have to give her since she already had time to get her stuff out?

The tenant is correct in that you must give her at least 30 days' notice to vacate. So, WHEN did you allegedly post this eviction notice?

However, even if the tenant fails to comply with an eviction notice (notice to vacate) from you, you STILL cannot just go in and remove her property from the premises. The only way to force a tenant to leave and remove their personal property from the rented premises is to file for a court ordered eviction.

 

[crazysweetguy]

The tenant is correct in that you must give her at least 30 days' notice to vacate. So, WHEN did you allegedly post this eviction notice?

However, even if the tenant fails to comply with an eviction notice (notice to vacate) from you, you STILL cannot just go in and remove her property from the premises. The only way to force a tenant to leave and remove their personal property from the rented premises is to file for a court ordered eviction.

She told me that she knew that she had 30 days and told me she would already have her stuff out. I posted the note a week or two ago stating that she needed to be out by the 16th. Now she is saying because she has two children that she should have 90 days by law and if she wanted to see the magistrate that would probably be given 6 months. She is also telling me that I did not give her a certified eviction notice. She already admitted to not staying there though and the electric and water is off.

So do I have to send her a certified eviction notice giving her another 30 days? The magistrate's office tells me that I have to give her a reasonable amount of time but I don't think WV law states 30 days or 90 days or anything like that. She is also telling me "my daughter is the magistrate's niece if that matters". I have heard of landlords getting tenants out in 7 days if they have paid no rent. I have not received rent for this unit for 1 1/2 months and HUD is wanting me to pay back rent three months back. Does that mean that she still needs 30 days?

 

[sandyclaus]

She told me that she knew that she had 30 days and told me she would already have her stuff out. I posted the note a week or two ago stating that she needed to be out by the 16th. Now she is saying because she has two children that she should have 90 days by law and if she wanted to see the magistrate that would probably be given 6 months. She is also telling me that I did not give her a certified eviction notice. She already admitted to not staying there though and the electric and water is off.

So do I have to send her a certified eviction notice giving her another 30 days? The magistrate's office tells me that I have to give her a reasonable amount of time but I don't think WV law states 30 days or 90 days or anything like that. She is also telling me "my daughter is the magistrate's niece if that matters". I have heard of landlords getting tenants out in 7 days if they have paid no rent. I have not received rent for this unit for 1 1/2 months and HUD is wanting me to pay back rent three months back. Does that mean that she still needs 30 days?

What she said she KNEW is irrelevant. You still needed to give her a 30-day notice per WV Code.

The relevant law for you is WV Code §37-6-6. Desertion of leased property; entry; recovery of rent, disposition of abandoned personal property; notice.

Section (a) applies:

If any tenant from whom rent is in arrears and unpaid abandons the leased property, the landlord or his or her agent shall post a notice in writing in a conspicuous part of the property, requiring the tenant to pay the rent within one month. If the rent is not paid within that time, the landlord shall be entitled to possession of the property, and may enter thereon, and the right of the tenant to the leased property shall end. The landlord may recover the rent owed up to the time when he or she became entitled to possession.

Since you never posted a notice requiring them to pay, the 30-day clock never started ticking. Not knowing how the law works here really hurts you. Once you post the notice, then in 30 days, you can go in and take back possession of the property - and not a minute before.

At the point where they stopped paying you rent, why did you not immediately give them a notice to pay or quit? This whole thing could have been done and over with by now.

 

[crazysweetguy]

I was going to but they said that they were going to get the stuff out in the next week or two and I thought that we had discussed the 30 days but I guess there was some sort of misunderstanding. Next time they will get the notice if they are even one day late on the rent so that I do not go through this mess again. I hesitated on giving them the notice because I did not feel like they should have been given 30 days after HUD stated that I had to reimburse them for 3 months rent and they had not been staying there after HUD inspector saw that water was not on and hardly no food in fridge. If I had given them a notice of 30 days then I would have had to stick with it. I realized that they were not moving anything out and the 30 days was creeping up on me so I put a notice on their door to leave by a certain day which was 30 days since the HUD inspector found that they were not staying there.

She claims that since the furniture and contents are still there that she still has rights and comes there every so often but is not there most of the time. Would I still be able to make a claim that they have abandoned the property or if she says she is still coming there every so often then will that prevent me from stating that the property is abandoned? Do I need a court order to take possession of the property and my rental again? The magistrate's office told me that even after 30 days I cannot keep her from her stuff and that I cannot change the locks but when I started asking more detailed questions about her not staying there but living somewhere else and what HUD stated in the letter they could not give me any advice as to what to do.

Also, when do you consider someone "moved out"? If they remove almost everything except for one item or don't give me the key back or won't tell me that they have released the property to me then am I "stuck"?

 

[sandyclaus]

I was going to but they said that they were going to get the stuff out in the next week or two and I thought that we had discussed the 30 days but I guess there was some sort of misunderstanding. Next time they will get the notice if they are even one day late on the rent so that I do not go through this mess again. I hesitated on giving them the notice because I did not feel like they should have been given 30 days after HUD stated that I had to reimburse them for 3 months rent and they had not been staying there after HUD inspector saw that water was not on and hardly no food in fridge. If I had given them a notice of 30 days then I would have had to stick with it. I realized that they were not moving anything out and the 30 days was creeping up on me so I put a notice on their door to leave by a certain day which was 30 days since the HUD inspector found that they were not staying there.

She claims that since the furniture and contents are still there that she still has rights and comes there every so often but is not there most of the time. Would I still be able to make a claim that they have abandoned the property or if she says she is still coming there every so often then will that prevent me from stating that the property is abandoned? Do I need a court order to take possession of the property and my rental again? The magistrate's office told me that even after 30 days I cannot keep her from her stuff and that I cannot change the locks but when I started asking more detailed questions about her not staying there but living somewhere else and what HUD stated in the letter they could not give me any advice as to what to do.

Also, when do you consider someone "moved out"? If they remove almost everything except for one item or don't give me the key back or won't tell me that they have released the property to me then am I "stuck"?

As long as you have failed to give her proper written notice, even if she has one item in the place, she still has the right to possession - because YOU never legally challenged it.

Bottom line, give her the written 30 day notice (that's 30 days from the day you give her the notice), and get the ball rolling. The statute I gave you is the one that governs your situation, tells you what YOU need to do in order to demand payment or possession, and starts the clock.

 

[crazysweetguy]

As long as you have failed to give her proper written notice, even if she has one item in the place, she still has the right to possession - because YOU never legally challenged it.

Bottom line, give her the written 30 day notice (that's 30 days from the day you give her the notice), and get the ball rolling. The statute I gave you is the one that governs your situation, tells you what YOU need to do in order to demand payment or possession, and starts the clock.

After the 30 days, do I need to go to the court house and file to gain possession? Does that give me the right to change the locks at that point before I go to the court house if required? What is considered them as living there and not living there / abandonment?

 

[sandyclaus]

After the 30 days, do I need to go to the court house and file to gain possession? Does that give me the right to change the locks at that point before I go to the court house if required? What is considered them as living there and not living there / abandonment?

Before you go and ask the question again, please go back and read my initial response. It tells you when the property is considered abandoned and whether or not you need to go to the court house to file to gain possession.

 

[divona2000]

I have a rental...Her electricity was shut off a week ago...

Why was the electric shut off, and who is responsible for the bill?

 

[crazysweetguy]

They did not pay their bill. The tenant is responsible for the electric bill. They also did not pay their water bill in which they were also responsible for. It was shut off in January. I just sent out a notice to vacate in 30 days and had it notorized and sent Certified Mail with return receipt yesterday.