LandLord Tenant Notice to Quit

[mmalkani]

In May 2010 I had rented my house in CT. The first 2 months I did not have any trouble with my tenant. From the 3rd month onward I started having trouble. The check that my tenant sent me for the month of July bounced. I was then sent 2 more checks both of which bounced. End result was that we did not receive any rent for the months of July and August.

We tried to talk to our tenants and resolve the matter. In September our tenant sent us one months rent and stated in an email that the 2 months security deposit that they had give us made them current on the rent up until that point, and that they would be sending us the money to replace the amount for the Security Deposit. The tenant also stated in the same email that they would not be late with the rent going forward.

On the 23rd of September our tenant sent us another email stating that the check was mailed. Till date we have not received it. More over we have not received the rent for October.

On the 9th of October I stopped by the house to talk to them and find a resolution to the problem. (I am not sure, if I did something wrong in going to talk to them, but there did not seem to be any option as they stopped replying to emails or answering the phone). I was there only for 5 minutes, and as I was leaving I received a phone call from the tenant asking me to leave or he would call the police. I left the property immediately. During the phone call the tenant also stated that he would be sending a check, which has not been received till date.

On the 19th October I had the Notice to Quit served on the tenant by a CT state Marshall. In the notice to quit I had asked them to leave the house by October 31st 2010, beyond which I would start the eviction process. So far I have not heard anything from my tenant. I do not have a way of knowing if they are moving out or planning to fight the eviction.

Tomorrow November 1 I plan on going back to the Danbury CT, court to file the papers required to start and eviction.

My question is how do I find out if my tenant has left the property. I have been unable to communicate with my tenant, as they refuse to answer the phone. As I stated above I am not sure if I can legally go to the house and see for my self.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[bluemann33]

Its your property, they just "rent"(or not) the property. You can go by there and see for yourself, you are not breaking the law in doing so. Your not going by there every day harassing them. Going though the courts is the only way to go from now on. Good luck

 

[fredrikklaw]

Save your time and energy!

Of course you can go to the house to take a look from the outside to see if the tenant has moved out or not, but you cannot enter. And in any ways, it is really a pointless endeavor at this stage of the game as it will not make one bit of difference to know if the tenant has moved out or not because you will still have to go through the unlawful detainer process in order to repossess the property and gain lawful reentry.

That said, you can always give the tenant a 72 hour notice of property inspection which will legally enable you to enter the house, but I highly doubt the tenant will let you in since things have turned acrimonious between you. I highly suggest you forgo the idea of going to the house which might the tenant may perceive as harassment which he might then very well insert it as a counterclaim when answering the unlawful detainer complaint.


So, just keep your patience a bit longer and let the suit do its job. Unlawful detainer action is a very powerful tool designed specifically to give possession back to the landlord at a breakneck speed; well, in the context of litigation that is. And it is no exaggeration when you consider that a defendant in a civil suit has 30 days to answer the complaint whereas your tenant will have only five (5) days to answer. Also, it takes a minimum of six months to a year at the very least to bring a civil suit to trial even when fast-tracked whereas an unlawful detainer action is mandated to be scheduled for trial within 20 days of the defendant's appearance in the case. And last but not least, while a prevailing party in a civil case may either never see a dime of the judgment or has to spend more months and years chasing and collecting, you will have your property back within 7 to 14 days of the final judgment of the court.

By the way, don't forget to include the defendants designated as All Unknown Occupants in the complaint.

fredrikklaw

 

[mmalkani]

Thank you for your responses. It has clarified my options. I really appreciate both of you for your advice.

 

[mmalkani]

I have one more question.

On November 1 I went to the Court and filed the Summons and Complaint forms. These were served on the tenants the same day. The Court had given a return date of November 12th 2010. On November 2nd I filed my Appearance form with the Court, and mailed copies to the tenants. I think I made the mistake of sending it as a letter requiring an acknowledgment signature, as I wanted to have some proof that I had actually mailed the document. The tenants were not at home and the Mail man left a note for them to come to the post office and pick up the letter. Till date they have not picked it up. I know this as I used the tracking number on the USPS web site.

I called the Court on November 15th to see if I could get a Trial date. I was told to call back on the 16th as the tenant had till 5:00PM on November 15th to file their Response and Appearance forms. I went to the Court on the 16th and was told by the Court clerk that the tenant had not filed their Response, they (tenant) had only filed an Appearance form. They then asked me to file a Form Titled "Motion For Default For Failure to Plead and Judgment for Possession". I did this on the 16th of November and mailed the copies to the Tenants (this time I made sure that they did not have to sign for it, checked it on the Fedex website). The Court clerk told me that they would send this to the Judge and would mail me a copy with the Judge's ruling. They asked me to call on Friday November 19th to find out the status.

I called this morning (November 19th) and after checking the Docket the court clerk said that they would send me a notice with the Trial date. When I asked her about it she told me that the tenant had shown up and filed their response. She was unable to tell me when the Tenant filed the response.

My question is: As far as I understood the procedure, the tenant had to file their response and appearance by November 15th, else they would face a default judgment. Is it within the realm of the permitted procedures for the court clerk to accept a response after the return date. The other point is that the tenant has not mailed a copy of the response or appearance form to me till date.

Sorry if this post is so long, but I thought it best to provide all the details.

 

[mmalkani]

I found the answer, I re-read the handbook given to me, and it clearly states that if the "Motion For Default" has been filed because the Plaintiff failed to file a response, then they have 3 days to do so, failing which the Judge would grant the Motion.