Does it smell like a meth lab? Maybe his neighbors will make a call to the sheriff.

The current laws are B.S. and rulings normally go against the landowner. SAD, I have 12 properties and my family has more that are low rent housing that we are not renting because it is cheaper to leave un-occupied than to pay lawyer fees and court cost to evict "deadbeats/thugs". People are no longer looking for help, they are taking it for granted.

If he happened to get the Hell beat out of him and was in the hospital for a month when the trailer burned you'd probably come out ahead.

Burn him out!

good thing some of yall don't own rental property

Some of you that own rental property need better lawyers.

If he trashes the place, you can seek damages against him and if he works get his wages garnished.

Its a trailer... it has wheels, move it somewhere. Tell him you sold it, that you thought he had moved out since he stopped paying rent.

You can have the power removed from your name and get your final billing but the power company will not cut off his power, per say. Simply start the eviction process.

I have four renters and they are all different. I have the utilities in my name at a couple of them and I go through the same thing you mentioned. On the 15th of each month, I bill them a late fee of 15% of their balance and add it back in to the money due the upcoming month. One renter just rolls with it and pays the late fee each month, she is always late, always, but the $100-120 late fee makes it a little easier for me to accept her being late.

just evict them and you don't need a lawyer to do it. After you start the process, don't take partial payment or you will have to start the process over. I learned that one the hard way from a professional deadbeat.
If they are a professional deadbeat, they will know the law and will probably appeal it and you will have to go to court, don't need a lawyer for that either. If it comes to that, the judge should rule in your favor and uphold the eviction and you will be on your way to taking out the trash. Good luck!

This is the only way to go. especially if he is ALREADY threatening you with a lawyer.

Get him a notarized "demand for rent" then bring it to and lawyer if he hasnt vacated and have the lawyer start a legal eviction.

Turning off his power will bite you in the butt for sure, and could hinder the actual legal process.

I'm just wondering why if the power is in the op's name why can he not cut it off?

because it clearly states in Alabama Landlord Tenant Law that to shut off the utilities to expedite or to cause an eviction is not lawful.

Even though it IS in his name, he had allowed it this long, but to do so during or before any eviction proceedings can be interpretted as being done "in Spite and with malice".

Not the best way to handle any type of situation that can and may end up in front of a judge.

It is very easy to cross a line in evictions if you take it personally and do not handle it as BUSINESS.

You can easily find yourself in legal trouble with a charge of Harrassment or more. You can end up with a restraining order against YOU the property owner that wont allow you near your own property.

And remember , Restraining orders are often accompanied by a officer at your door requesting you relinquish all fire arms.

Act SMART, end it as fast as possible with good legal representation.

It could cost A LOT more doing it any other way.

Ultimately he will still be responsible for the power bill. My brother didn't have the credit to purchase a home (due to his own sorry behavior) of his own so my dad (against my consitently trying to talk him out of it) purchased the home in his name, with the understanding that my brother pay the mortgage. My brother decides after a while to move out and has the power taken out of his name. Not shut off, just has his name removed from it. None of us had any idea for three months that he had even moved out until the mortgage company called dad about lack of payment. Long story short, dad had to handle selling the house but he couldn't do so until he got the utilities caught up that my brother had taken his name off, even though my dad had never had them in his name.

Just tell the power company to pull your meter, the house will be trashed anyway. A renter in one month will do more damage to your house than you will do in 20 years in your personal home.
We just had a similar situation, the tenant wasn't happy, but the power miraculously was in their name that afternoon.

My advice, don't listen to most of these comments. If you follow their advice you will end up on the wrong side of the court room.

Start an eviction TODAY.

I've been fighting with a tenant since January. He moved in my house in December and it's been a problem since then.

This guy owes me over $3000 in rent, fines, court fees, etc. that I'm more than likely never going to see. I'm going to try and get the courts to garnish his wages but you can't get blood from a turnip.

He even went as far as to "give" me a vehicle for 1/2 of what he owed me but he never produced the title. I still have the vehicle but he pawned the title 1 month before he signed a Bill of Sale to me.

They say they are leaving today which happens to be the deadline that the court gave them. We'll see.......

Me and two other guys help each other with our Trailer rentals and evictions. I had a renter that would not pay or leave the Trailer for three months. I called once every day and he dodged me...as expected. Now we moved on to step two: Me and three other guys in the business knocked on the door and no one answered as usual...we expected that, I disconnected the utilities...while Big Terrance and Woody hooked up to the dually and we began to pull off with my Trailer and they jumped out the door screaming at us (we knew they were in the Trailer). It works every time! One guy works as the mediator and the other two are hard-arse hayseeds. We give them the option to pay us on site ( or go to a teller and get the money while we wait for 1 hr max) or we pull the Trailer and set there chit out. They folks we deal with are not the every day norm and we knew that prior to Trailer rentals. Hell I love the rush !

Are you talking travel trailers or mobile homes. Either way I would imagine that method works most of the time. It's only going to take 1 time to wish you hadn't done that though.

Both Travel Trailers and Mobile homes. If the renter suspects you are a light weight or a nice guy....most will take advantage of you if you get my drift. Nice guy chit dont work with these type rentals. I have too many stories on this subject...but it can be dangerous and I WANT MY MONEY !

well the power company said they had no problem with me cutting the power off and added a note he couldn't turn it back on in any name with out a letter of consent and the sheriff said they could see no way I wasn't within my legal rights. so the power is being shut off Monday. if he wants to take me to court that's fine he will have to live with out power till he can get a court date.i still have plenty of other reasons to evict him for breaking a lease agreement.

This is legal?