Renting out a property can be a very lucrative business in Tennessee. However, if a tenant does not pay the rent or habitually misses out on payments, it can harm operations.
If a landlord decides to one day take matters into their own hands and deal with a non-paying tenant personally, they must be aware that it could jeopardize their business and property rights.
Self-help eviction can cause legal disputes
If you are a landlord in Tennessee dealing with a tenant not paying the rent, taking direct action against them may harm your business.
These are some things that can get a landlord into serious trouble:
- Changing the locks
- Removing a tenant’s belongings
- Entering a tenant’s space without permission
- Shutting off utilities such as water, electricity and heat
- Forcing them to move without prior notice
These actions are known as self-help evictions or illegal evictions. A tenant could take legal action against a landlord who does these things.
You can deal with a non-paying tenant legally
Landlords can deal with tenants who do not pay rent in several ways. These include:
- Talking to them: If you are dealing with a tenant who frequently misses out or refuses to pay rent, you can try talking to them and finding out the reasons why. This may even resolve the situation.
- Using cash-for-keys: You could offer them a cash-for-keys agreement, wherein you pay them a sum of money to leave a unit so that you can rent it out to someone else.
- Evicting them: If all else fails, you could file for eviction to get them to vacate your property while avoiding a legal dispute.
Self-help evictions can harm a landlord’s business operations and property rights. There are many ways for a property owner to deal with non-paying tenants in a legal way that avoids disputes.