Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

options

so, I made the mistake of renting an apartment to a friend, one who has had problems in the past with money and leases. I thought since we were friends we could work together to make things better for her. instead, they seem to be worse and i think I am being taken advantage of. we have no written lease, only verbal....she now owes me several thousand dollars in back rent. I now find out that she has been taking off work, not having her hours reduced as she claims. I also hear how nice her apt is, so I made a landlords visit....and saw all the nice things she has now that she did not before. It is obvious where her money is going. she also has a boyfriend living with her, but somehow is still unable to make the rent. call, after call goes unanswered, till i force a meeting, then i get promises. At this point, what rights do I have? I have been advised to evict her and have the sheriff put a lock on the door, restricting her from her things until she either forfiets them as payment, or pays me...is that legal?

This is my first rental property, and It has not turned out well....but mostly my fault is seems for trusting.

thx


Asked on 10/08/05, 4:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: options

You must follow court approved procedures for evicting your tenant. And unless you want to end up on the wrong end of a Warrant in Detinue filed by your tenant(for withholding her personal property), you should forget about that particular avenue for securing what's owed you. As part of the eviction process in general district court, you will be allowed to ask the court to enter judgment in your favor for all back rents due from your tenant. Then if she continues to fail to pay up, you can garnish her

wages or levy against her bank account in order to collect on the judgment.

The above is a brief outline of the legal procedure you must follow in evicting your tenant. Start with the clerk's office of the general district court(civil division) which will have all the forms you need to fill out to initiate the process.

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Answered on 10/08/05, 8:13 pm


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