But if I wanted to get spiteful, and her tenants were still around, I might mention to them that they have an illegal lease and in some jurisdictions a tenant can sue the landlord for every penny of rent paid during an illegal lease. Its not like I, as the landlord would have any claim to the money collected, but legally the primary tenant doesn't either.
I would keep a better eye on my rentals so I knew who was living there during the lease.
Other than that, a tenant with a 20 year history would have a lot of leeway if rent had been paid to me.
You knowingly rented an illegal dwelling and now you are SHOCKED that the landlord is not an honest, law abiding, tax paying citizen? Why is it people like you only complain about a dwelling being an illegal rental when they are being evicted?
How do you know what she did on her tax return? That is her business whether she includes rental income on her tax return. But since it is an illegal rental, I doubt it. You have to move out before you get evicted. The money you paid her is her problem.
Let's say you owned rental property (a house) that you leased to a woman and her children for 20 years. Then you discovered that your renter had, in violation of the rental agreement, been subletting an illegal basement room to one tenant for 3 continuous years for an approximate total of $18K.
In addition, you discover she previously had short term renters over an additional 2 year period of time. She has not declared any of the rent she collected as income and has not reported said earnings to the IRS.
How would that make you feel and what, if any, action would you take again your tenant? If the tenant was vacating the property in a couple of months to get married, would that have any influence on your feelings and the action you might take? (State of Nebraska)
Thank you for providing your opinions and insights into this matter.
