<p>I don’t know what’s going on with the sublet girl, or how much money’s involved. But the fact of the matter is that the sublet is not being responsive. It’s not your D’s responsibility to get the check to you … it’s the sublet’s. And the sublet’s been in the apartment a full month, so the second check is also due.</p>
<p>In such a case it’s not “playing hardball” for your D to say to the sublet “Check in my hand by Friday noon, or you’ll be receiving legal papers Monday. I’m sorry, but you can’t live here for free.”</p>
<p>^^ Just changing the locks and doing an instant defacto eviction (and holding belongings ransom as a result) is likely not legal and shouldn’t be done without checking local laws.</p>
<p>Who is paying the utilities? If you or your D is paying the utilities shut them off. It works to hasten deadbeat tenants out of apartments You can’t put their stuff out on the street legally because they have a verbal agreement, but I do believe you can shut off the utilities if you are paying them…anyway we’ve never gotten in trouble for doing that yet. We did have one deadbeat that stayed a couple more weeks without water, electric, etc., but maybe in the OPs case it would get the checks moving. Meanwhile get the eviction paperwork going. The cost is minimal and you don’t need a lawyer.</p>
<p>Neither we nor our daughter are in the city (or state) where the apartment is, or anywhere close by. None of this can be done in person (although if I need to drive there to start the eviction process I suppose I will). </p>
<p>The apartment has several bedrooms, and my daughter is renting one – there are other people living there this summer. The renter is not a friend or a friend of a friend.</p>
<p>Don’t even ask about the utilities. You wouldn’t believe that story even if I told you.</p>
<p>Rhode Island says the tenant has five days from the date of the letter to make full payment. It doesn’t say five business days – just five days. Since we’re coming up on July 4, the timing is a complication. I suppose I should send my letter overnight, which will just be another expense for me. I’ll add clauses about it being a bankers cashier check and that it must be sent overnight. I’ll also say that the rent due July 1 should be a cashier’s check, too. </p>
<p>(The good cop/bad cop is a good idea – should have done that a couple weeks ago.)</p>
<p>Hire a local constable to deliver the Notice To Quit in person, it is not very expensive, and having an authority figure deliver it in person can be pretty intimidating.</p>
<p>I hate to say it but you are probably screwed. Since you are not local you will likely have to hire a lawyer to handle filing and handling the eviction paperwork, which will cost a substantial portion of what you are owed. If the deadbeat has even half a brain, she can easily get it postponed until after the summer is over, and then move out, avoiding the eviction. </p>
<p>And if you do actually get to court, the girl will just say “she’s my friend, she told me I could stay there for free since she wasn’t going to be there! I don’t understand why they are demanding money! I never signed a lease or anything!” Since you have no actual signed agreement, it’s he said/she said. </p>
<p>You could risk an illegal eviction, since there is no actual contract to show she has the right to be there, and she probably doesn’t have the smarts/resources/time/desire to fight it, but it’s a dangerous game.</p>
<p>Your only recourse will likely be Small Claims, good luck with that.</p>
<p>There is a remote possibility the check did get lost in the mail. This happened to me once in 15 years of landlording - the tenant put the wrong zip code on the envelope, so it took 3+ <em>weeks</em> to get delivered. And she did it twice, after which we got fed up and kicked her out. Weren’t we surprised when the envelope showed up weeks later…</p>
<p>It’s an expensive lesson, hopefully the lost rent is not a huge amount. Next year, collect at least two months up front, and three if you can.</p>
<p>All the leases I use say that sending a letter via certified mail with return receipt constitutes valid delivery of a notice. Without a written agreement, the only valid legal form of notice may be hand-delivered from a constable. Every state has laws that govern this.</p>
<p>Did you check your D’s lease to see if she even has the right to sublet? I specifically prohibit it in my leases, but I generally don’t rent to students. If she didn’t have the right to sublet… I’m not sure where that leaves you legally, I haven’t run into that situation before.</p>
<p>Hopefully this squatter really intends to move out at the end of the summer…</p>
<p>Do the roomies have anything to say about this girl and how she’s conducting herself there or if she’s saying anything to them about paying the rent?</p>
<p>Yes, I know we are screwed. Good news is that the total cost to rent for the full year (not including utilities) is a little less than the total cost of university housing for 9 months, so the actual monetary loss isn’t that great. (Our deal with our daughter is that we’ll pay the university housing cost, and if her off-campus housing comes to any more, it’s out of her pocket.)</p>
<p>There is an email record, so the girl cannot claim that she’s a friend who can live there for free.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the lease said – we’ve never seen it, and in fact, I don’t think my daughter’s name is on it.</p>
<p>Luckily, there won’t be a next year. Lease is up on May 31, and she’s not renewing.</p>
<p>Not sure about the legal issues, but if she’s not out by the time my daughter needs to return, that’s when her stuff will go in the street.</p>
<p>Good question, ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad. I’ve been wondering that myself.</p>
<p>Yup–and chalk it up to life experience. This person sounds like a deadbeat, probably has done this before and most likely knows landlord-tenant law better than most of us.</p>
Also likely illegal. In any event, if there are other subletters or original tenants in the apartment, you can’t do that.</p>
<p>While it’s likely that she can delay eviction proceedings for a while, your daughter can still take her to small claims court during the year for the back rent (assuming that it’s not an illegal sublet). It’ll be local for both of them.</p>
<p>Please note, though, that even if she doesn’t move out by the time your daughter needs to move back in, you still can’t throw her stuff in the street. That’s why it’s important to start proceedings NOW, so that you may get a friendly court clerk to push things through so there is no “holdover.” Your daughter will not be the first student in this situation that the clerk has seen, and will likely not be the last. The clerk will know what to do.</p>
This is pretty important. And if your daughter’s name isn’t even on the lease, it might be even more problematic. I think the next step should be the “good cop” call from your daughter to put on more pressure.</p>
<p>Good news!! Two checks just came in the mail, from the mom, for two month’s rent. I’m off to the bank to deposit ASAP.</p>
<p>Plus, I now have the mom’s name, address and phone number, so if needed, we can deal directly with her.</p>
<p>Very thankful that I can rip up the nasty “in arrears and I’m going to court” letter (although I’ll keep the original on my computer just in case the checks don’t clear or the Aug. 1 rent doesn’t show up).</p>
<p>ETA: Thanks for all the advice. I’m sure my daughter learned a lesson in this, and at least now understands why landlords ask for a deposit and first month’s rent upfront. Hopefully others will see this thread and protect themselves better than we did.</p>
<p>Wonderful! This is truly great news. This could have gone very badly. I hope others are learning from this thread, also. What a big sigh of relief. A note to all of us: please don’t give advice to do things that could be illegal, even when those things seem to make common sense. Changing locks, throwing personal items out into the street, turning off utilities–all of these things could have landed you in serious hot water. Glad it worked out!</p>
You can’t put their stuff out on the street legally because they have a verbal agreement, but I do believe you can shut off the utilities if you are paying them…anyway we’ve never gotten in trouble for doing that yet. We did have one deadbeat that stayed a couple more weeks without water, electric, etc., but maybe in the OPs case it would get the checks moving. Meanwhile get the eviction paperwork going. The cost is minimal and you don’t need a lawyer.</p>