We’re sorry that you are going through an eviction. Unfortunately, evictions, in spite of our best efforts, are a harsh reality of being a Landlord. Be assured that we’re here to expedite the process and get your property re-rented as quickly as possible.
Below is a basic guide of how evictions work.
Generally, there are three phases to all evictions: Possession, Damages and Collection.
1. Possession
Your first order of business is to gain possession of your real estate. As we have already discussed, T&H Realty will instruct our Attorney to file eviction on the Tenant.
In some cases, your Tenant may pay all outstanding rents due prior to the court date. We will attempt to get your permission prior to accepting any payment.
In some cases, the Tenant will vacate the property once an eviction is filed, which can save you the expense of our Attorney attending the possession hearing for you. If the Tenant vacates prior to a hearing, you will jump directly to the Damages portion of the process.
If the Tenant fails to vacate, our Attorney (or you, as the Owner of the property) must appear at the hearing. If the Tenant fails to vacate within 5 business days of the hearing, we will request that you make a $250 contribution to your account to pay for the Attorney. Once payment is made, we will contact the Attorney and provide all required information.
*Please note that actual Attorney fees may vary, depending on the time required and the complexity of the case.*
Generally, once a claim for possession is filed, you can expect a court date within 3-6 weeks. Assuming all goes well at the hearing, you should be granted possession of the real estate within an additional week.
In some rare cases, you may have to pay for a forced move, assuming the Tenant fails to vacate when required by the court. However, this is a very rare occurrence.
2. Damages
Once we have possession of the property, the next step is to determine damages to the home. Obviously, lost rent, until we re-rent the home (or the evicted Tenant’s lease ends) are figured into your damages.
Your Property Manager will also walk the home and provide you a detailed list of items needed to get the home in rent-ready shape. It’s important to note what is Tenant damage and what is considered normal wear and tear. All Tenant damage items will be added to the Tenant’s lease ledger.
When all damages are calculated, we are required to send the Tenant a 45-day letter, noting all charges. The letter provides the Tenant 10 days to pay the outstanding balance. If the Tenant fails to pay the balance, and we feel like you have a good chance to collect the debt, we will encourage you to proceed with a damages hearing and obtain a judgment. We require an additional $500 contribution from you in order to pay our Attorney to prepare and attend the damages hearing. Keep in mind that most judges allow Attorney fees to be added to judgments.
3. Collection
Once a judgment is awarded, we will send the judgment to our local collection company. This company offers very competitive rates and works on a contingency basis, meaning there is no cost unless money is collected.
We will manage the entire collection process for you, retaining 10% of whatever money is collected.
