The Art of Eviction

 

The Art of Eviction

The Art of Eviction! No matter how great your screening process is, occasionally you will run across the need to go through with the eviction process. First off, there are other terms you may run across while doing this so here we go. Before diving into something we must define it. Websters dictionary defines eviction as the following:

  • e·vic·tion

  • [iˈvikSH(ə)n]

  • NOUN



  • the action of expelling someone, especially a tenant, from a property; expulsion:

  • "the forced eviction of residents"

  • synonyms:

  • expulsion · ejection · ousting · throwing out · drumming out · driving out · banishing · banishment · removal · dislodgment · displacement · clearance · dispossession · expropriation · defenestration · ouster · outing

Now we have a clear definition of eviction, let us move on to determine when it should happen. There are some differing schools of thought here. Some more rigid by the book proprietors begin the eviction process immediately upon the first day possible in event of non-payment. Other entrepreneurs may listen to the tenants and want to help their tenants out. Most states will have some type of Pay or Quit notice required and the waiting period to begin eviction will vary from state to state. My recommendation on the "Pay or Quit Notice" is to post, mail or serve, whatever your state requires as soon as it should be served, mailed, etc. Starting the eviction process quickly will save you time and money rental after rental.


Once you serve the notice at least you have begun the process promptly. If you think you should work with the tenant, then you are not obligated to evict simply because you served the Pay or Quit. You can still choose to do so. This is where an inexperienced and even occasionally an experienced landlord can be off on a wild goose chase if you are not extremely careful and vigilant when it comes to the situation at hand. Yes, there are some folks that get down on their luck and occasionally we do need to help those less fortunate than we are but there are often those who continually put themselves into bad circumstances because of bad choices.

I have been at this occupation for nearly 25 years. That is exactly what this is too, a job. Do not let any video on Facebook lead you into thinking that real estate is just a passive income. I have heard the videos as well and it's all just lollypops and rainbows followed by unicorns and magical princesses.


Now that I have placed my blurb for the day I'll get back on topic. Yes, helping a tenant. If you are an experienced investor, then you probably already know this but for the newbie I'm going to put this out there. Never place yourself purposefully into a position where you can lose money. I have helped a select few along the way that stayed and continued renting from me, but most were long term tenants already that had a history of good payment and just fell into a slight bind. Every one of these caught up quickly and didn't come with a sob story but rather a slight need and an explanation of how and when we would get straight with each other. Every time. Not some time but EVERY TIME.


Now we have the more common example. Typically, it will begin around month 2 or 3. Sometimes it may wait until 4. Excuses of why it's not quite what it should be. Maybe 30 dollars short. A 50 here and there and so on. Then it doesn't come in until the middle of the month at which point it will progress in amount and time to wait. You are being tested make no mistake. These are professional tenants. Go ahead and start the Pay or Quit and move right into the eviction. Occasionally they will catch you up and get on the right path, but it will never happen until you take control of the situation. I have found myself in this situation more times than I can count over the years. I am here to tell you from experience, it will only get worse. They do not need your help they need to use you and if you aren't careful, you will help them do so.

This advice is pre covid and mind you many states have made evictions harder during the pandemic and havn't went back to business as usual yet. Read this as in a normal environment but still the advice would be the same. Once you realize that your tenant isn't going to pay you correctly begin the process, get them out and move on. I assure you it will be easier for you in the long run.


Thanks for the quick read. This is my advice, David V, The original and official, Underground landlord! Check us out at https://www.undergroundlandlord.com 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Underground Landlord

 Hello everyone. My name is David and I am the original and the official  Underground Landlord .  I have been in the rental business for over 20 years. I have made almost every mistake possible along the way and my woes can become experience for you. Hopefully from the mistakes I have made you can glean some wisdom and save yourself some major problems along the way. As you know the first step in becoming a landlord is buying a property.  Obviously you need to get the property at a good price for it to be viable and many times this includes buying properties that need some work and you putting the sweat equity in them to make them what you want. You will hear lots of speakers talking about cap rate, return on investment, etc. etc. etc.. These are all very important but fortunately if you get one of these wrong it's not the end of the world,  There are however a few skills you need to master to be successful in the rental business.  To be very successful in the rental business as a
Read more
  There is lots of talk these days on tenant blacklist. Everyone has an opinion and you hear many times people state that they are illegal. Well, to begin with, let's define what a tenant blacklist is. Upon Searching google with the question. What is a tenant blacklist this is the answer at the top of the page. "A tenant blacklist is another name for a tenancy database or a ‘bad’ tenant database . Run by private companies, they collect and store information about tenants. Real estate agents and landlords may use them to screen people who have applied to rent a property." So for a database to be in existence the data had to come from somewhere right? Well, where did this data come from? Winston Law LLC did a comprehensive job on tenant blacklist and where they originate. I believe you will be quite surprised. From the name you may think back room deals or mafia guys in trench coats selling vital and illegal information to shady characters. Well, wrong, that's just n
Read more

Rising Cost of Rent

Rising Cost of Rent? Why? Over the past few years, Rent has nearly doubled in many areas of the United States. Obviously the first to be blamed is the landlord as the word landlord in today’s English language has become synonymous with target. While many things determine the cost of rent and effect it in the market, we live it is rarely if ever the landlord just wanting more money that drives it higher and higher at such a quick pace. Several factors affect the cost of rent. One being the initial cost of the house plus repairs to make it livable. Another is the cost of maintenance, insurance and taxes on these properties, and another is compensating for bad renters. As stated above, overall cost of the initial house directly effects the cost of rent. Most landlords adhere to the rule of 1%. This states that to be safe in a property you need to be able to rent the property for 1% of the total purchase price. Immediate repairs would also need to be factored into this as well to cover
Read more