Evictions

[CellBoo]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My Boyfriend has a 12 month lease and ends in 3 months and for the past 6 months he has gotten 4 notices to leave the premises and if he doesn't leave the landlord threatens to take him to evictions.

In September the landlord gave them a 30day notice and in October a 4 day notice to leave the premises. When he went to pay rent for this month (october)the landlord returned the checks and said she was taking them to evictions. My boyfriend pays his rent on time so the eviction would not be for non-payment. The landlord says she is taking them to evictions for unauthorized tenants, unauthorized pet, and continue violations of lease.

unauthorized tenants- would be his brother, but he went into the office to registar his car in july and they never added him as an occupant till mid september.

unauthorized pets- his brother babysat his girlfriends puppy for a couple hours and the maintence people saw the puppy outside for a second. And since they received a notice to leave the premises due to unauthorized pets, and since then they have not had the puppy over. (I have read that if there is any violation to a lease the landlord should give them a notice to correct the situation. The landlord never did that.)

Continues violations- not sure what she is meaning there.

But everything the landlord has complained about to them they have corrected the situation on there own, to me the landlord is trying to get rid of them at all cost.

He is not able to leave the premises, since he can not afford 2 places, since the lease states if you leave, you must pay rent till new tenants move in.

Is it possible for my boyfriend to win this eviction?
Should he move once the eviction papers are received and still go to court to fight this?

 

[Hot Topic]

I'm assuming "them" means the boyfriend and his brother. Did the brother sign the lease? When?

The landlord has to go to court to evict them.

 

[CellBoo]

I think he signed some form that states he is an occupant, I don't believe it was a lease. And he signed this form back in september.

I understand that the landlord has to go to court to evict and I doubt that she would miss the court date.

 

[HomeGuru]

I think he signed some form that states he is an occupant, I don't believe it was a lease. And he signed this form back in september.

I understand that the landlord has to go to court to evict and I doubt that she would miss the court date.

**A: the form would be part of the lease.

 

[OHlandlord]

Your BF needs to follow the specifics of his lease. His brother started staying there from at least July, but they never registered him until Septemeber. Most leases here only allow a few days before the visitor is an unauthorized occupant. For at least 2 months he was in violation of his lease.

If his lease says "No Pets", that means ALL THE TIME. No visiting pets, no pets of his own. He cannot "babysit" someone else's animals. Not even for a few hours. The only pets allowed would be service animals permitted by the disabilities act.

The 30 day notice is only for violations that don't materially affect heath and safety. An unauthorized ocupant can be argued to affect safety since no one knows who he is. That could affect the safety of everyone else in the building. The LL does have the right to know who is living in the unit and to receive an application with his personal information. (The form he signed may not place the brother on the lease, but may only register him as an extra resident or a registered visitor to the unit. He may not be responsible for the obligations of the lease.) Since he is now registered, this should not be the reason for the current notice. The BF should know or find out exactly what form his brother filled out.

If he is in violation of his lease obligations (whatever other violations the notice refers to), he should recieve a 3 day (not a 4 day???) notice to vacate (also known as an unconditional quit notice or officially titled "Notice to Leave Premises") or a 30 day termination notice, depending on what violation he is supposed to have committed. Did he call the LL and ask what other violations of the lease there were? If a LL intends to evict in this state, they cannot accept rent money for the month they are evicting or it voids the eviction proceedings. This is why the LL refused his rent money. LLs here cannot accept partial payments or payments for rent during an eviction.

Once the 3 day notice expires, the LL will go to the clerk of court and file the actual eviction petition. The 3 days do not include the day it was delivered, weekends, or any holidays. The BF will receive a copy which should tell him exactly what violation he has committed. Please note, once this is filed, it is automatically entered into most court websites in this state. Meaning the next LL would be able to see that the LL had filed eviction on him. Even if the LL were to lose, it still stays in the court history as an eviction filed. Most future LLs won't care if he won or lost, they will only be concerned that the LL filed it. This will prevent him from getting good units later. I suggest he call the LL immediately and ask what is wrong and how he can rectify it.

 

[CellBoo]

Since the landlord did not take their rent for the month of october, cause she is planning to evict them. Can she take rent for november and charge for the remaining months of the lease?

 

[OHlandlord]

If the LL evicts, it will end their liability for any future months of rent left in the lease. If evicted, you did not move out breaking the lease, she told you to move out by court order. If the LL accepts rent in November, whether she will still be able to evict will depend on what the receipt says. The LL can accept past months' rent, but not the current month's rent if the LL evicts on non-payment. If the receipt says that they paid "October's rent" (one month late), it will be up to the tenant to immediately pay for the missing month or the LL can begin to evict for not paying current rent. If they again offer to pay the current month's rent and she refuses, she will again be unable to evict on non-payment of rent. (Non-payment is the easiest and quickest form of eviction in this state.) If I were the tenant, and had not recieved any eviction papers from the court by the first of the month, I would automatically offer both months of rent on the same check to avoid this. She would have to accept both or neither. If she accepts both, rent is again current. She would be unable to evict on non-payment (but can evict for other reasons). If she accepts neither, and you have not received court papers, I don't know what she is doing. She can file in court as soon as either the 3 day or the 30 day are up. Why she wouldn't do so is puzzling.

 

[CellBoo]

My bf and his brother are current on all rent payments. The landlord did not accept rent for October cause she is wanting to proceed with an eviction and they have a letter from her stating that their checks were returned to them, so that she can evict. Everything that she has given them is stating that she is evicting them on breaking lease agreements and not for non-payments. They have not had continous complaints or violations, they have fixed every issue the landlord has notified and thats one noise complaint 9 months ago and the dog sitting. Is the landlord even aloud to take novembers rent after declining october?

They are on their 3rd week and the landlord still has not served papers of the eviction. Should it be taking this long?

When OHlandlord said "If the LL evicts, it will end their liability for any future months of rent left in the lease" are you stating that if they get evicted they will not have to pay for the remaining months on the lease cause the eviction terminates leases? Cause their landlord keeps stating that even if they get evicted they still have to pay the remaining months until they find new tenants.