I have some rental properties. They are not my primary income (or much of any income right now) but are part of my retirement plan. I have a renter in a duplex who has turned into a hoarder. I have been trying to work with her for almost a year, but towards the end of last year, she stopped all communication with me except for paying the rent. The smell went from bad to unbearable for the upstairs neighbor. I had given her an ultimatum in September and she started to clean up. Since she has some other issues going on, I offered to help or even do it for her free of charge as a one-time thing. Once I filed an order of eviction, she stopped paying rent, which is secondary to me right now. She didn't show up to court and I got an activist magistrate who dismissed the case because "she is now on a month-to-month lease instead of yearly" and is not subject to the rules of the lease. I didn't understand, but that same week, the renter contacted me saying she was moving and started cleaning things out. I'm talking about a full sized dumpster of trash from a 1200 square foot apartment.
I thought we were good and would be able to start working on the house in a couple of weeks. No. After the dismissal, the clean-up stopped. I filed again, but this time with knowingly vandalizing and health code violations with photos, my personal testimony, and witness statements. The same magistrate dismissed based on insufficient evidence. ????? At the last hearing, the bailiff told me that the city does not want any renters being kicked out right now because of Covid-19.
I have now lost an excellent renter upstairs because of her and have no income to replace a mortgage, insurance, and taxes that the city will come after me for. I have filed a third time and will call the health department next week to see where that gets me. I suspect this renter has, let's say, a personality trait/mental condition that is affecting her decision making. Not her fault, but I can't help people who don't accept help.
I am asking for advice or person al stories to help me speed up the process of getting her out of the house.
