The Value of Intel

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the freak that I had living in my duplex. To make a long story short, she complained about imaginary birds; she was bitten by invisible dust mites; and she wrote a bad check for the June rent. She was a FREAK! Needless to say, I filed for eviction. I also fully planned on filing criminal charges against her for writing a bad check. Unfortunately, our court date was scheduled for July 16th, which is the same day that my father is having major surgery. I needed to get her out before the eviction hearing, because I wouldn't be able to attend.

I learned a long time ago, that you should pay attention to what your tenants say and do. Everytime I see one of my tenants, I make it a point to engage them in conversation. You would be shocked at what tenants will tell you. This information (this intelligence you are gathering) can be valuable when you have a problem with the tenant.

When I evict someone, I make it a practice to drive by the property every day or two to see what's going on at the property. I noticed that this tenant was keeping a low profile and I didn't see her outside on any of my trips by the property. In addition, I noticed that the court officer had to leave a legal notice regarding the eviction on the doorknob, which meant that she wasn't answering the door. In Ohio, you have to give deadbeats a written 10 day notice if you intend to press bad check charges. I had sent her such a notice by certified mail and I saw that the postal worker had placed a note about this certified mail on top of her mailbox. She hadn't accepted it and therefore didn't know that I was pressing criminal charges. Therefore, I posted the 10 day notice about the bad check on the front door!

On one of my trips driving by the house, I saw the neighbor, from across the street, sitting outside. I noticed on one occassion that my Freak tenant was friends with this neighbor (an important piece of intelligence). I asked the neighbor if he had seen my tenant and he said that he had not seen her (almost certainly a lie). I told him that she was being evicted and that she had written us a bad check. He said that he had seen the police at her door. What he actually saw was the court officer trying to serve the eviction notice, but the neighbor assumed that the police were trying to arrest her over the bad check. This was the opportunity I was looking for. I said, "yeah? they must be after her - you know writing a bad check is a felony. I'm sure the police will be back. She deserves to be in jail". Then I left.

Two days later, the tenant was gone and she left the place in spotless condition (probably hoping not to antagonize me further).

Using the intelligence that I had gathered by talking to the tenant and observing her actions allowed me to avoid this eviction. Good deal!