Evicting Your Tenant When They Violate the Local Health & Dept Codes

You are probably asking yourself, how is that going to work? And why would the local Health Department take an interest in deadbeat tenants?  Why would they want to help me?  But also do they have the right to intervene?

 The simple answer begins with utilities.  Many communities, cities and counties across the nation have rules and regulations, simply put, laws for health codes and regulations.  One of which is that it is illegal for residents to live without light, water, sewer or septic turned on and working.  This also may become an issue of minor endangerment if children are in the home.  The local Health Department has the power to remove people from properties violating this regulation. 

Ironically enough, I never really stopped to think about this option as a landlord and how this might work to my advantage when it comes to delinquent tenants.  In my time, I have seen it all, heard every excuse and as a result, I feel I can put these experiences to good use and share my advice.

It is not only me who finds themselves with such problems at times.  It must have been a few years back that I was talking to a friend of mine who also owes a number of properties in the same city as myself and we started exchanging stories.  He as truly exhausted and fed up with managing his rentals but one particular tenant was driving him over the edge.  He had suspected for some time that she was not only unemployed but also living a druggie lifestyle.  She had not paid rent in months and any time he pursued collection or eviction, she would file for public assistance and use her children as a reason for not being removed.  In our county, anyone on public assistance with children under the age of ten has 90 days to get back on their feet before an eviction process can proceed.  She would pull this stunt a number of times but also get caught up and then fall behind again over and over.  When he would try to work with her and showed her any kindness, the next month she would threaten to sue him or become very defiant, even ugly with him in his tactics.  She all but challenged him to evict her, stating that the court would be on her side because of the children but also because she showed a history of "trying" to pay.

I offered to take over the property for him and he was wiling to sell it to me at a discount just to get the situation off his back.  I'm not saying that I had the magic answer or that I could deal with this deadbeat tenant any better.  I was certain I had a time consuming and costly eviction on my hands in which I feared during this timeframe, the woman would destroy the property.  I mean he knew the limitations of what he could do but I was interested in the challenge.  I went to inspect the situation for myself and possibly meet this problem tenant. 

It happened to be the middle of winter, one evening when I stopped in to maybe speak with her about getting her current with the rent.  I introduced myself as the new owner and broached the subject of putting a payment plan into action that would benefit both of us.  She was basically rude and unwilling just like she was with my friend.  No surprise there!  She said she knew her rights and that I had no grounds to evict her especially while her children were there.  Still this is not what I was focused on, I really did not want to engage her in an argument more like inspect the conditions in which she was living.  While she ranted on, something odd caught my attention.  There was a car battery in the center of the living room on the floor with wires running to the overhead fixture and installed ceiling fan.  Not only do it look strange, I thought that it could possibly start a fire.  I didn't really think anything more as I left but only how to proceed with this seemingly lost cause.

Now sometimes I may be observant but it takes a little time for me to catch on.  The car battery kept nagging at me until it one night I jumped out of bed with the idea that maybe her lights had been shut off.  Usually this is due to a delinquent bill but with the children there, surely she was getting public assistance with that as well?  Well I was curious so I called the local power provider only to find that she had failed to pay her $20 contribution to the public program allotted her.  They were also seeking a collection in the amount of $1000 for her unpaid previous bill.  As the new owner, they wanted to know if I would help down this down.  This got my juices flowing because my main concern at the shock of seeing the battery was of possible fire.  I began to wonder if this was a violation of a city ordinance of some kind.  I went to the Internet to look up at our city's web site, different regulations and laws put into place to protect living conditions but also as a concern state public health.  This lead me to the local Health Department web site and I could not wait to call them in the morning. 

The next morning I was informed that the current situation of the car battery indeed posed a health risk to the community and was also illegal, in violation of a specific code, not to forget extremely dangerous.  They were very interested to hear my story but not at all shocked.  This is evidently a popular choice of alternative power sources.  The employee I spoke with was proactive in that they got one of their inspectors to make a visit to the property within the hour.  He suggested that I meet the inspector there and that a police officer will also be on site to deal with the tenant. 

What happened next happened pretty quickly.  We all met at the property together and the police knocked on her door with orders to leave immediately.  She only enough time to collect her coat and purse and upon leaving had to hand me the keys to the house.  Funny how quickly the tables had turned.  She immediately wanted to work with me and when I flat out did not reply to that plea, she grew concerned about collecting her belongings.

So quickly my goal of having her out and unable to trash my property was accomplished and that was all I really wanted.  Still I learned a lot.  I would believe that if you as a landlord suspect anything of an abusive tenant, then you should go with your gut and investigate the situation immediately.  I would suggest looking at the meters or calling the local utilities with this information in hand, you might be able to quickly and effectively evict the tenant.  It is important that you always keep in mind the local laws, regulation and ordinances of the city especially if a tenant is a problem because they may be breaking the law in some way.  I mean it may not be completely obvious at first but some laws are pretty straightforward ands simple. I mean it may come down to how many people are living there or lack of heat or lights, too many animals or cars parked illegally.

Truly such a volatile situation may only boil down to a short phone call to the local health department to see if your suspicions attract their concern and warrant further inspection.  It may work to your advantage as you never know what laws the tenant may be breaking which not only are grounds for violation but immediate eviction.