Posted by me again on February 11, 2002 at 20:24:32:
In Reply to: Holdover problem posted by HoldoverHangover on February 11, 2002 at 11:44:06:
: Hi. My friend is in the hospital after a car accident. She hasn't been home for 10 days and her lease was up 8 days ago (she shoudl be released from the hospital within a week or so). I spoke with the landlord on her behalf and offered to write a check for this months rent. He refused it and threatened to change the locks on the door (which I know he can't do). My question is how long would it take for him to get the sheriff involved to throw her stuff out. Also, if the LL woudl have to go to court, would she have to be served in the hospital or could it be left at her door. Any other insight/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
this entire response assumes that the apartment is not stabilized/controlled, if it is, you probably have no problem, except to pay the rent, maybe including late fees.
first thing, check the original lease to see what happens when it expires, more than likely, it is 'automatically' renewed as a month-to-month tenancy, with all the same terms. if this is the case, bring your friends checkbook with you to the hospital and have her write the rent check, and you can mail it, certified/return receipt, so that it will show that you did try to pay the rent if it comes down to court. if the lease provides for any late fees, you should probably include those as well.
if the lease does not automatically renew in any form, you should check the 'notice' provisions for renewal/non-renewal of the lease, if the landlord has already given notice that the lease will not be renewed, and the tenant is now truly 'holding over', then he will probably start to file his 'holdover' paperwork with the courts anyway, but your friend should be out of the hospital long before any court appearances are required. as far as being served, i doubt that he would do it in the hospital, besides being in terribly bad taste, it couldn't be just mailed to the hospital address since odds are she wouldn't get it anyway, and it wouldn't be considered properly served. as far as being 'left at her door', there would still be no signature for a certified delivery, and proof of service would be a little tougher to prove. it is normally sent certified/return receipt to get a signature for proof of delivery, or delivered in person, which would also require a signature, thus, no valid service.
a little more detail on the existing lease would get you clearer answers.
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