How do I evict a tenant who is constantly late on rent and is out of the country?

Question

I want to send my tenant a notice to quit but he is out of the country for a month, is there anything I can do? His lawyer said this is against the law because I know he is out of the country.  But he is late on every payment of rent and owes rent.

S Hunter · Answer

If you know where he is overseas, you can still evict him by having him served over there. Also you can petition the court for alternate service (posting eviction on the door, in the newspaper etc.) due to the fact that he is out of the area.

Leonard Schwartz · Answer

In New Jersey the individual does not need to be served. 

The Court mails the Complaint to the tenant. If he fails to respond and you get a Judgment for Possession you send more documents to the Court which are posted on his door after that you can take over possession. 

Of course, if he is just late then you muse send a Notice to Cease and after that he must be late 2 more times.  If he owes rent you can sue right away.

Austin Hirschhorn · Answer

I assume that you are talking about a rental of a residence or residential space.  If the tenant was going to be away I assume that arrangements were made to deal with the mail, utilities and other things that might need to be taken care of at the rented premises.  

If you are just interested in getting possession of the premises and the lease has some period of time before it expires I would recommend that you send a notice terminating the tenancy which requires notice of at least one rental period to be effective before you can file a suit and wait until the tenant returns and then file a suit to terminate the tenancy and regain possession of the premises.  

You should not rely on his lawyer for legal advice.  Talk to your own lawyer who will advise you what you should do in the situation.  

If you have a written lease with the tenant, you should give the tenant notice in the manner required by the lease.  

If you are looking to collect delinquent rent or a money judgment for anything you are owed you will need to get personal service on the tenant, but this could be done when the tenant returns to this country. Good luck.

Leonard A. Kaanta · Answer

You can mail the notice to his address, but he still has to be personally served with the complaint.

Jeffrey Dworin · Answer

There are two options.  

1.       If you are only looking to evict, and not to recoup a money judgment (if he had money he would probably pay rent), then mail a demand for possession (non payment of rent), wait seven days, and file the eviction suit.  You do not need personal service to evict, but should copy the lawyer if you know the tenant has one.  

2.       If there is not a written lease or the tenant is holding over after expiration of the lease, send a demand for possession (termination of tenancy), wait 30 days, then file the eviction suit.  

The only defense to a termination is a lease.

Dennis P. Mikko · Answer

If the tenant owes rent, you could send him/her a 7 day notice to quit.  The notice does not have to be personally served but you could arrange to do that when you know the tenant is in town. 

The tenant would then have 7 days to cure the past due rent or you could start an eviction proceeding.  If there is no lease and the tenant is a month to month tenant, you can terminate the tenancy with a 30 day notice to quit.  

You do not have to state a reason as you could terminate for any reason or no reason, just not an illegal reason.  After the end of the 30 days, if the tenant has not vacated, you could start an eviction proceeding which would result in an order of eviction.  

You would have to obtain personal service of the summons and complaint after it is filed with the court or if that was impossible due to the tenant's absence, you ask the court to allow service by substituted means such as posting and mailing to his/her last known address.

Jared Altman · Answer

Your lawyer is wrong. You can get a possessory judgment of eviction. Read your lease carefully and then hire a lawyer who knows landlord-tenant law.

Edward Olson · Answer

Call an attorney.  You can still evict the tenant.

Jeffre Crandall · Answer

Is he a service person overseas? Second, if you cannot get service on the tenant you can petition the court for other service. Consult an attorney, and especially about his fee.

Michael Palumbo · Answer

"His lawyer says..." you are going to rely on the word of the adverse attorney. Either learn how to legally evict someone - it's in the real property law - or retain counsel to do so for you.

Carlton C. Casler · Answer

In Arizona, you must serve a 5-Day Notice to Pay or Quit.  It sounds  like  this tenant may have been habitually late. 

 In that case, you should  also  include in the 5-Day Notice a paragraph reinstating the time is of the   essence provision of the written rental agreement:  To the extent the time is of the essence provision of  the Lease has  heretofore been waived and/or not enforced, Tenant is hereby  placed on notice  that the Landlord is reinstating the time is of the essence  provision of  the Lease and henceforth will require strict adherence to the time  periods  specified in the Lease and under the Arizona landlord and tenant  statutes.  

The fact that the tenant is out of the county does not afford the tenant   more rights and/or excuse payment of rent.

Caleb Langsdale · Answer

The answer really depends on whether this is a commercial or residential property.  Is someone not on the lease residing in the property? 

Either way, you can evict with a formal unlawful detainer because the action is *In Rem* meaning it concerns the property and not the individual. 

In this type of action you can generally get service by posting and mailing the notice to the property, regardless of whether or not the tenant actually receives it.

Brandon Gardner · Answer

Obtain an alternate service order and then serve the attorney, the residence, and the out of country address.

Frances Headley · Answer

You should consider just terminating the tenancy with a notice not tied to any failure to abide by the rental agreement.  Personal service would then not be required.  You should consult a landlord/tenant attorney about how best to proceed to accomplish your goal.

Gregory Crain · Answer

Put eviction notice on property.

Richard Keyes · Answer

If the tenant is out of the country, you can always post the premises and get a judgment for possession only.  Under Missouri law, you can then move for immediate eviction.  Posting the premises is when the deputy sheriff tapes the summons and petition to the tenant's door.  The deputy sheriff will make the return that he or she was not able to serve the tenant but posted the premises and you can get  default judgment.  If you get a judgment for possession only, you can later file a lawsuit just for the rent that is owed.

Michael Stafford · Answer

If you are this close to evicting your tenant I would seek the advise of an attorney to represent you. I don't believe your knowing that he is out of the country is a valid excuse for not paying the rent but it could be a valid excuse with regard to serving him with a Summons.

Brett Alexander Pedersen · Answer

You can proceed with an action by publication.

Ethan Miller · Answer

Take a look at the methods for giving notice under the statutes  Sec. 704.21(1).  I recommend that you contact a landlord-tenant lawyer to review the specific facts of your matter and provide you a legal assessment.

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How do I evict a tenant who is constantly late on rent and is out of the country?

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