If I rent a home from a close friend and I sublet a few bedrooms in the house and my subtenants are not paying their rent, what are my options for getting payment and evicting them?
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If I rent a home from a close friend and I sublet a few bedrooms in the house and my subtenants are not paying their rent, what are my options for getting payment and evicting them?
My tenants were paying late every month so I decided to give them a verbal 40 day notice that I was not going to renew the verbal month to month lease. They typically pay at the start of the month on the 15th. This month they made arrangements to pay 9 days late, and on the day they arranged to pay they stated they do not know when they will be able to pay.
Asked on July 24, 2015 under Real Estate Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
If tenants or subtenants do not pay rent when it is due--not when they have typically paid in the past, but by the date they are supposed to pay, which is generally the first of the month--you may bring an eviction action to remove them for nonpayment; contact the clerk of your landlord-tenant court for instructions and forms. Note that if you specifically, for one given month, gave them permission to pay late, then for that month, the issue is whether they paid by the agreed-upon date or not, not whether they paid by the date they are generally supposed to pay by.
Even missing a single month's rent (not paying one month's rent when it is due under the lease or under an agreement allowing payment by some other date) allows you to file for eviction for nonpayment of rent. The tenant can avoid eviction by paying--but then you get the rent. And if the tenant cannot or does not pay, you should be able to evict. In this regard, subtenants are the same as tenants--either may be evicted for nonpayment.
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