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help!! I'm paying my tenants 1,125 to move out!!

Ok...My sister has had tenents in a loft she owns for 5 years. The place is trashed and she just wants them out. Neither of them w0rk so she has agreed to pay them 1,125 dollars if they agree to be out by the 1st.   The problem is that she wants to come up with some type of document to make them sign so they don't take the money and  not hold up their end of the bargain.  Waiting till they move out to give them the money is the smartest thing of course but the  reality is that these people will never save up the money to move on their own....Any ideas of  how she can be assured that if  god forbid the cops have to be called that she has a document to show them that was notarized and help the cops be able  to make them leave?? Would any such document even exist or is the bottom line that these people could take the money and still make my sister have to go through the long eviction process??????

Mindy, assuming that there is a lease agreement in place between your sister and her tenants.  1) You want a Mutual Termination of Lease Agreement (search for it on here - they have a template).  This will amend the lease stating the conditions of terminating. Make sure she includes the amount to be paid and the date for which the place is to be vacated. Might even consider paying half now, and then 15 days after move out you will send them a check for the remainder. Establish a move out procedure within the document, if your lease dose not. If your lease does, ensure to state that the it will still apply. Essentially cross all your T's and dot all your i's. This will become apart of the lease and is binding before a court of law, just as your lease agreement it (assuming your lease is accurately executed).   2) As for showing it to the cops. If they do not follow through, or take the money and do not move out this would violate your lease (now that your mutual termination of lease agreement is signed). You would then have to start eviction procedures. You cannot simply call the police, show them the agreement and they make them leave. You have to file eviction with the courts and follow their procedures, but if you have this agreement in writing and signed, and an addition to a legally executed lease, the court should rule in your favor. The below link is a step by step guide in how to evict someone. Make sure you follow it closely or it will not work in your favor.  https://www.ezlandlordforms.com/articles/educational/4/127/eviction-process-a-basic-step-by-step-guide-to-eviction/  NOTE: Document everything! Do not pay them in cash, make sure there is a paper trail. If you hand over a check - make sure there is a signed receipt between both parties. Think CYA....  Hope this helps
Unfortunately, they had a lease when they moved in but now is a month to month. It sounds like you're telling me that  giving them the money is a gamble and certainly not an assurance that my sister will be protected and guaranteed to get these people out on the first.  Forgive me.....but is that the bottom line?  We are dealing with people that haven't showed the greatest character in the past.
So you said there was a lease and it has now gone to month to month. My leases state that once a lease ends, if no move out notice is given, then everything automatically rolls into a month to month. This allows for the original lease to stay in tact and carry through for the month to month periods. Read your lease and see if it states anything about what happens if no move out notice is given. If it says that it is now in a month to month, then that lease is still valid, unless some kind of addendum was signed nullifying the lease.   If the lease is not valid, you could still leverage the Mutual Termination of Lease, but I would word it as Mutual Termination of Tenancy. What you would need to do, is declare in the document what the current situation is: Tenant XYZ is living at ABC Address on a month to month bases paying $XX. Tenant and Landlord have agreed to terminate their relationship with the following conditions: Landlord pay Tenant $XX and Tenant will move out on X date. I would then have it notarized for both parties. This would be binding, and if they didn't move out you would have grounds to evict. It's your property and you get to decided who lives there. A lease simply lays out the ground rules for allowing another party to live there. If you want the ground rules changed, then you have to do it in writing and everyone agree. If they want the money, then they have to sign the document and move out. If they don't - take them to real estate court (as the guide I sent earlier says) and evict them. Sadly not everyone is of character and that is when we have to get the courts involved. Bottom line: DOCUMENT DOCUMENT and have them sign it and get it  notarized. They don't hold up to that end of the deal - the eviction judge will have an easy day.
Unfortunately, they had a lease when they moved in but now is a month to month. It sounds like you're telling me that  giving them the money is a gamble and certainly not an assurance that my sister will be protected and guaranteed to get these people out on the first.  Forgive me.....but is that the bottom line?  We are dealing with people that haven't showed the greatest character in the past.
So you said there was a lease and it has now gone to month to month. My leases state that once a lease ends, if no move out notice is given, then everything automatically rolls into a month to month. This allows for the original lease to stay in tact and carry through for the month to month periods. Read your lease and see if it states anything about what happens if no move out notice is given. If it says that it is now in a month to month, then that lease is still valid, unless some kind of addendum was signed nullifying the lease.   If the lease is not valid, you could still leverage the Mutual Termination of Lease, but I would word it as Mutual Termination of Tenancy. What you would need to do, is declare in the document what the current situation is: Tenant XYZ is living at ABC Address on a month to month bases paying $XX. Tenant and Landlord have agreed to terminate their relationship with the following conditions: Landlord pay Tenant $XX and Tenant will move out on X date. I would then have it notarized for both parties. This would be binding, and if they didn't move out you would have grounds to evict. It's your property and you get to decided who lives there. A lease simply lays out the ground rules for allowing another party to live there. If you want the ground rules changed, then you have to do it in writing and everyone agree. If they want the money, then they have to sign the document and move out. If they don't - take them to real estate court (as the guide I sent earlier says) and evict them. Sadly not everyone is of character and that is when we have to get the courts involved. Bottom line: DOCUMENT DOCUMENT and have them sign it and get it  notarized. They don't hold up to that end of the deal - the eviction judge will have an easy day.
Thank you !! Thank you !!  Thank you!!!   I never expected such a quick response and you will probably never know how appreciated it is.......Thank you again!!
By the way - Just because they are living there on a month-to-month term, doesn't mean your sister has any obligation to keep renting it. If she has decided that they need to go, then she can give them notice terminating the month to month (typically 30 days notice) and she doesn't have to pay them a dime. No landlord is obligated to renew the lease, and a month-to-month situation is simply an agreement that they can stay there for another month, at the end of the month if either party wants to terminate it - they can. So, she can give them 30 days notice to pack up and move out (remember in writing). If they don't then she can file eviction notices and have the court tell them to get out. Now, if there is some agreement that they can have the place till X date then yes they have to agree to nullify that agreement, but if not then too bad for them. There is some case law prescience for verbal leases, but it's thin. However, I feel if you give them the 30 days to get out, and they don't - evict them! There is nothing that says she has to pay them to move. NOTE: For clarification purposes, I am not an attorney in anyway. I am simply a fellow landlord who feels your pain and want to pass along my knowledge, and I understand the law. Thank you and good luck!
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