Landlord's rights when tenants late on rent and destroying property
I have begun the eviction process on my current tenants living at my property at 597 Jefferson St in Urbana, OH. I posted the 3-day vacate notice on the property using bright orange paper on 7-31-07. Per the 3-day timeline, they should have moved out on or before this past Saturday, 8-4; however, they have chosen not to and still remain in the property.
In addition, I have placed now two for sale signs on the property (in the yard), and they have removed both of them and not returned them to me, stating that by law they have the right to remove the signs since they are still living there. Can you comment on this?
Do I have a legal right to put a for sale sign up and not have it removed by the tenants? In addition, I have already ran a forsale ad in the paper. I do not want to re-rent the property - I want to sell it. In addition, as of last night 8-5, they finally paid July's rent and what had been remaining for June, but are now late (and still in default of the lease agreement) for August's rent since they did not pay August's rent by midnight on the 5th (last night). I plan to file a complaint with the Municipal Court today to evict them.
They are being very persistent and not wanting to move. They have indicated that their attorney will be contacting me to draw up a new legal contract to allow them to pay weekly and to allow them to stay there. As I understand it, I'm under no legal obligation to sign any new contract or addendum to the original lease if I choose not to. Moreover, since they have continued to pay late, I have a legal right to evict and find a new tenant or sell the property. Can you briefly comment on this as well?
A: You have a legal right to put the for sale sign up on the property. If they try to remove it again, I would advise contacting the police. You are under no obligation to sign any new agreement. In my opinion, I would start the eviction process asap.Our landlord's complete kit takes you through the eviction process step by step.
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