Eviction Services for Landlords

The law is not only slanted toward the tenant, but it is outright protective of tenants that are costing you money!  They have many rights, you do not, and the law allows them to remain on your property during the eviction process.  This could means months of tenants not paying rent and destroying your property.  Do not delay beginning the eviction process.  most tenants do not change their behavior and if you think you should evict the tenant it is often in your best interest to follow through.  Some tenants just need a little help and understanding and it is a great outcome when we can work together to keep a good tenant, but overwhelmingly this is not how evictions work out.

Evictions require that you follow a very-specific process.  If you do not follow the process and if your paperwork is not precisely correct, then you risk having the eviction tossed out and starting the process all over again.  Having the right attorney may cost more up front, but in most cases it also saves you money overall by removing the tenant sooner.

Eviction Process

1. The process begins with a notice to quit, served by a Sheriff's Deputy.  The Deputy will serve the tenant and then send proof of service back to our office.  This begins the negotiation time before your tenant must leave.  You have the ability to negotiate to allow them to stay longer, pay back rent, or you can simply tell them you want them out at the end of the notice time.

2. If the tenant refuses to leave at the end of the notice period, then you need to initiate the FED process.  This involves serving the tenant with a summons for a hearing and complaint.  While waiting for the court date we continue to negotiate with the tenant and many times we can come to an agreement before the actual hearing.

3. If we get to the hearing, then the judge will require us to negotiate the morning of the hearing and if it is unsuccessful, then we will present our case to the judge.  The judge will only determine rightful possession of the property, they do not rule on back rent.  If the tenant does not pay, then you have to sue them for the back rent and you most-likely will not recover it.  Usually it is a loss at this point, but we have been successful recovering back rent for many clients.

4. Once we have a judgment for the landlord, the tenant is given 7 more days to leave.  If they do not leave within these 7 days, then we go to the courthouse and get a "writ of possession" which the Deputy will serve.  If the tenant has not left 48 hours after service of the writ, then we need to involve the local PD if there is one, or the Sheriff to physically remove them.  This can be upsetting, especially when there are children involved.  But it is how the legal process works.

5. Once the tenant leaves you are usually free to access the property and start renovations.  If the tenant leaves property behind, there is a process you must follow  to either return their personal property or sell/trash it.  We can discuss this process if it comes to it.

The biggest thing to remember is that the Eviction process is extremely particular.  If you fail to dot an "i" or cross a "t" you risk the case getting tossed out, and then you have to start all over again.  If you lose your case because of our error, we will handle the entire process again at no cost to you.  We are confident that we can get the tenant evicted on the first try.