Rental Dispute

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fibber

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I have a tenant whom I gave notice to and refuses to leave.

Mistake I made was not letting him sign the notice letter, or giving him a contract to sign when he moved in.

I did however give him a list of rules to abide by.

Trying to motivate him to leave at his own will, I turned off his power and hot water.

He had the use of my garage, but revoked it at the end of notice period.

Today I received a court order, urging me to give him the space back in the garage, switch the power and warm water back on.

Have to appear in court later in May. Police says I can not do anything due to him not signing the notice period letter.

If I were to give him a notice letter to leave my premises again, to get his signature on it, how long notice is fair and legal?

He has not been paying rent at all for almost 2months now. I would appreciate some leagal advice on this matter urgently.

Can anyone suggest a laywer that I can see in this matter?
 
Why are you trying to evict him? Did he contravene some agreement, well you admit there's no agreement in place so it defaults to month to month.
 
He never paid his rent on time. When on the third month he did not have the rent I gave him notice and took the deposit for his rent. He has not paid anything since.
 
You may not turn off the water or electricity....

Don't bother with court, you will lose.
Your only option is to get him to sign the notice letter, give him 1 month calender notice...
When he doesn't leave, then you start legal eviction procedures.
 
ToxicBunny thankyou for your reply. It is today the 8th. can I state he must be out by the 8th of next month.
 
Why no contract?

Anyway, weird that he has money for a court order but not for rent...

I can think of other ways to get him to leave.
 
Go in and go in hard.

Remove the front and back doors, tell him you are busy renovating or fixing them. Either way, get him out before he Fcks up your place !!

Had to do this with my last property - Never stop, be a relentless pain in the ass, make it the most uncomfortable place for him to be !!!

To hell with the law. My position is, kick them out and deal with the court later! If try do it the other way round, he'll break your place, run up the electricity & water, break doors, break taps and basicaly be a nasty piece of dirt and leave your place in ruins.

It'll cost you money either way - go to court, admit guilt, pay fine and save thousands in renovations !!!!
 
Last edited:
Collect cockroaches and nuke his place with pests.. then when he gone, get exterminators ;)
 
Heebs said:
Go in and go in hard.

Remove the front and back doors, tell him you are busy renovating or fixing them. Either way, get him out before he Fcks up your place !!

Had to do this with my last property - Never stop, be a relentless pain in the ass, make it the most uncomfortable place for him to be !!!

To hell with the law. My position is, kick them out and deal with the court later! If try do it the other way round, he'll break your place, run up the electricity & water, break doors, break taps and basicaly be a nasty piece of dirt and leave your place in ruins.

It'll cost you money either way - go to court, admit guilt, pay fine and save thousands in renovations !!!!
Click to expand...

My parents last tenant did this, she left of her own accord when the sherif of the court payed her a visit with a letter, then she decided to make a mess. When she returned the keys to our lawyer he asked if the place was clean she said yes and so did her father. Seeing what she did you wouldnt think she was a doctor.

One morning shes gonna come out to a car with holes in the side wall of her tires soon:twisted:.
 
You need to approach an attorney to make a PIE application.

You do not have the right to cut off lights / water / access.

The deposit is to guard against damage to the property it may not be used to set-off rental.
 
Heebs said:
Go in and go in hard.

Remove the front and back doors, tell him you are busy renovating or fixing them. Either way, get him out before he Fcks up your place !!

Had to do this with my last property - Never stop, be a relentless pain in the ass, make it the most uncomfortable place for him to be !!!

To hell with the law. My position is, kick them out and deal with the court later! If try do it the other way round, he'll break your place, run up the electricity & water, break doors, break taps and basicaly be a nasty piece of dirt and leave your place in ruins.

It'll cost you money either way - go to court, admit guilt, pay fine and save thousands in renovations !!!!
Click to expand...

To the OP....

Since your tenant has access to money to go to court, do not do ANY of the above suggestions. You will end up in court and it will cost you big time.
 
ToxicBunny said:
To the OP....

Since your tenant has access to money to go to court, do not do ANY of the above suggestions. You will end up in court and it will cost you big time.
Click to expand...

This has always confused me - The tenant has no money to pay for rent, but has money to utalise the legal system to have their "illegal" occupation extended?

This is the only reason I dont go into the business of letting property - I feel the law favors the tenants.
 
zamedic said:
This has always confused me - The tenant has no money to pay for rent, but has money to utalise the legal system to have their "illegal" occupation extended?

This is the only reason I dont go into the business of letting property - I feel the law favors the tenants.
Click to expand...

Tenant is being a deliberate tool. Lots of those types, he's simply refusing to pay you but happy to shell out all the way up to the concourt.
 
seted said:
You need to approach an attorney to make a PIE application.

You do not have the right to cut off lights / water / access.

The deposit is to guard against damage to the property it may not be used to set-off rental.
Click to expand...


Funny how the COJ has the right to cut off my power due to a billing error.
 
zamedic said:
This has always confused me - The tenant has no money to pay for rent, but has money to utalise the legal system to have their "illegal" occupation extended?

This is the only reason I dont go into the business of letting property - I feel the law favors the tenants.
Click to expand...

Like R13... said, he's just being a tool on a monumental scale... I've seen it a few times.. Has money to get a brand new BMW, DSTV, etc etc etc.. but not enough to pay R3k per month rent.... and try evict them, and they have many thousands of rands to pay for a lawyer.
 
There's nothing (and I repeat NOTHIGN) you can do except approach the court for an eviction order.

You've already done something illegal by deducting rent from his deposit.
 
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