Leasing woes

Dear Atty. Peachy,

I have a condominium unit that is currently being occupied by someone whom I will just refer to here as “Andy.” Andy started leasing my unit about five years ago, under contracts of lease that expire every year and which we just renew thereafter.

Andy had been a good tenant for the first three years, that is, he does not complain about the maintenance of the unit and he pays on time via bank deposit. In the last two years, however, I have had difficulty collecting rentals from him. I had to follow up on his rent every month, something that I hate doing. He claimed that his cash flow problems were due to the sickness of his mother who had been asking for financial help from him for her medical consultations and medicines.

I understood his situation so I agreed to another renewal of his lease last August 2022 despite my difficulty in collecting rentals from him. The situation, however, got worse. Instead of just being delayed in paying his rentals for only about a month, his rental payments had been delayed for three to four months.

I am already retired and my only source of income, apart from my meager pension, is the rental fee from the lease of my condo. Hence, even though I wanted to further accommodate Andy, I decided not to renew his lease for another year. His final lease ended last August 2023.

I sent him a notice to vacate the premises immediately after the termination of his contract of lease. Andy is still occupying my unit until now and has been continuously pleading with me to let him renew his lease, albeit not having paid any rental after August 2023 and not showing any indication that he will be able to pay his lease this time.

What can I do? I need the rental money. Can I just put a padlock at the door with the hope that he will finally be constrained to leave my unit? I do not even intend to collect rent from him anymore for the past months that he has been staying at my unit after the termination of his lease contract. I just want him to vacate the unit so I can finally show it to potential tenants.

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

I can understand your frustration. Unfortunately, however, you are not allowed to take the law into your own hands and forcibly eject Andy out of your property. You need to resort to legal action to evict your overstaying lessee.

According to Article 1671 of the Civil Code, if the lessee continues occupying the premises despite the termination of the lease, over the lessor’s objection, the lessee shall be subject to the responsibilities of a possessor in bad faith. The lessee shall be considered to be detaining the premises unlawfully. In such case, the lessor may institute in court an action for unlawful detainer, also commonly known as ejectment.

Please keep in mind, though, that an action for unlawful detainer should be filed within one year from the date a demand to vacate was last made. 

Atty. Peachy Selda-Gregorio