One of the ways you can make your property work for you is by renting it out to tenants. Aside from the occasional tasks and responsibilities required by a landlord, this can be a way to secure financial stability through passive income.
It’s highly recommended that landlords screen potential tenants for their ability to pay rent, follow reasonable rules, and avoid damaging your property. If you haven’t practiced screening potential tenants or had an error in judgement, you might now find your Lexington property occupied by a bad tenant who is not only a nuisance, but a liability towards your property. In case this sounds like your predicament, here are a few options you can consider.
Wait Out The Lease Term
The least confrontational thing to do is simply wait out the least term and refuse to renew their lease. When a lease term ends, landlords are generally not required to have a reason to end the lease. Legally, they have to give their tenants a 30- or 60-day notice so that they have time to find another home to rent. If your tenants comply, you won’t have to involve authorities to have them legally evicted from your property.
Once your tenants have moved out, you can opt to do whatever you want with your property. The liability of this option, however, is if your tenants have a tendency to damage your home. Who knows what could happen to your property (and the expenses you have to shoulder as a landlord) while you wait it out?
File For Eviction
If your tenants fail to pay rent or violate your lease agreement, you have grounds for ending the agreement and evicting them from your property. In Lexington and the rest of Kentucky, landlord and tenant issues stipulated under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act are grounds for eviction.
Before you can evict a tenant, you have to follow certain legal processes. You have to give your tenants a notice of eviction. You must also go through the legal process of obtaining a court order. Do not try to evict your tenants by changing the locks or shutting off the utilities, as you can be sued for illegal eviction.
Sell Your Property To An Investor
You can legally put your property on the market while having an active lease. You won’t be attracting the segment of buyers looking to live in a property of their own, but you could attract those looking for property to rent out. You will need to transfer the lease and security deposit to the buyer, who will become the landlord.
“Cash For Keys”
You find the market isn’t filled with investors interested in becoming landlords to bad tenants, but you might find people interested in your property – if it were empty. Here’s a possible option you can take: offer a settlement so that you and your tenant can mutually agree to end the lease.
For instance, if they have unpaid rent, offer to forgive the missed payments if they agree to vacate the premises. You might even want to consider returning some of their previous months’ rent as an incentive. Just make sure to get the new agreement in writing.
Sell The Property To The Tenant
If no one seems interested in buying your property on the market, you might consider selling the property to the tenant. They are familiar with the property and what it has to offer. Consider a rent-to-own payment scheme or allow them to obtain their own financing. However, if your tenants are always behind their rent payment, it might seem unlikely that they can afford to buy the property.
Sell To A Professional Homebuyer
If you’ve found that your tenants are more trouble than they’re worth and have caused significant property damage that can be costly to repair before you sell or find new tenants, your most convenient option is to sell your property to us at Rylo Homes.
At Rylo Homes, we buy houses in Lexington, KY as-is – including damaged homes occupied by tenants. We’ll give you a fair price for the property, handle all the closing costs, and take on the responsibility of handling your tenants. This can provide you with the cash you need to spend on other investments, or buy another property you can lease out to better tenants.
Contact us today and receive a fair cash offer within 72 hours or less.
