I rented my home to Raul & Christy Proctor on February 1 for a 12 month period, at $month. After June they never paid on time. After the 12 month period, the lease became month to month and was supposed to increase to $2500/month, but I allowed them to continue to pay the $month, even though they were always late. The lease agreement stated after the lease became month to month either party could terminate said lease with 15 days written notice. From the time I delivered the written notice to terminate, until they finally moved out, they stopped paying any rent and squatted in the property until I had the Sheriff serve an eviction notice. Two weeks before they moved out I was informed that their water service was going to be disconnected, so I had to restore service in my name, so they could live there until they moved out without causing more damage to the home due to the lack of water.
After they vacated the premises on 5/15/09, a full 3 months after I served my 15 day written termination notice, I took them to small claims court in Gwinnett County, Georgia for payment of past due rent and damages. The damages included broken glass in a leaded front door, roach infestation, burnt hole in deck, missing screen from door, kicked-in bedroom door, broken front doorknob, broken bedroom doorknob, water damage on hardwood floors, all brand new carpet and padding now needs to be replaced due to cat/dog feces and urine, as well as ground in gum, broken kitchen drawers (he repaired with duct tape), ripped/torn linoleum, holes in sheetrock, scratched cherry cabinets, carpet patches cut from closets to repair animal damage at all bedroom doors, broken outdoor light, garage floor and driveway ruined by oil stains and never cleaned, pristine yard now full of weeds, because they did not maintain the yard according to neighborhood covenants, trash left all around the house in shrubbery, few working light bulbs left in home (his excuse was he didn't replace them when they burnt out, because he couldn't afford the electric bill with all the lights). Raul has said he shouldn't have to pay for damages, because he considered them normal wear and tear.
As far as promising him a mortgage, it did state in the rental agreement that they could do a lease option to buy if they paid earnest money of $7,500 by August 1, which they never did. Since you have to qualify for a mortgage based on income, assets, rental history and credit they could not meet any of these qualifiers. They are self employed and have not filed Federal Tax returns since 2004. Since July they were always 30 days or more late with their rent. Due to the lack of verifiable income and delinquent rental history, they would never qualify for a mortgage, even in the best of times.
It is unimaginable to think I can extort money that the court awarded me. Their claims are all lies, just like the many reasons they gave about why they could not pay me. Of all his excuses, saying that I called DFACS (Department of Family & Children's Services) on his children, and that the state threatened to take them away, because there was no food in the home, was beyond belief.
I have attached the web links to the Gwinnett County (Georgia) Courts to show they were served an eviction notice and the web link showing I was awarded a judgment in small claims court. If these people ever try to rent from you, don't say I did not warn you.
Case # 09-M-22105 www.gwinnettcourts.com - judgement for plaintiff
Case # 09-M-12626 www.gwinnettcourts.com - eviction notice
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