can I evict?

[ElaineJ]

I am currently renting my home (in Indiana) to a couple who have been habitually late in rent for 7 months. They owe me money from Feb. and have not paid for March. I have also found out that one of my tenants had lied about a prior eviction on public record. It was about 8 years ago, but yet he lied. In addition, the heat broke down on Christmas but they did not notify me until 3 days later and they informed me that they called a particular company to come out and fix it. I have my own company that I normally deal with and, in the end, it cost me twice as much for the repair than it would have, had I had my repair company come out. Are these just "poor renters" or can I legally evict them?

 

[msattorney]

Did the tenants try to reach you over Christmas about the lack of heat. If they did and could locate you, then they were probably justified in getting it repaired--it was cold there. If you have certain people you use, this should be told to your tenants so they could have reached them in your absence.

You can investigate the law in IN as to evicting your tenants for none payment of rent. That can be tough in some states--I do not know what the law is in IN. You might have luck evicting them on the lie if it was material to whether you would have rented to them or not. Go to your local library to see if there are ny books about the landlord/tenant law in IN or specifically in your city. There may be some landlord-tenant organizations in your area, though they tend to be more tenant oriented. You could also consult a lawyer who practices in this field for advise. Maybe all you need is a lawyer letter saying that you plan to start eviction procedures if they don't get current with their rent.