Evictions are a lot more common than many people realize. Under normal circumstances, there are almost four million evictions filed every year. That comes out to seven evictions every minute of the entire year!
For some people, the eviction process is familiar. But when managing your first few evictions, it is important to be prepared. Otherwise, an unpleasant process can turn into a nightmare.
So how can you be prepared to manage the eviction process as smoothly as possible? Read on to learn about the eviction process!
Different Kinds of Evictions
There are basically three kinds of evictions. One is called the pay rent or quit notice. There is also the cure or quit notice and the unconditional quit notice.
The pay rent or quit notice informs a tenant that they must pay rent within a few days or else move out. The cure or quit notice tells a tenant that they must conform to lease rules or else move out.
The unconditional quit notice is the most serious. In the case of an unconditional quit notice, the tenant is required to move out no matter what they do.
Eviction Protection Attempts
In general, you cannot evict a tenant without cause if they have a lease. That means you will have to wait until the end of a lease to evict a tenant.
Tenants may also resist evictions in court. This can add many weeks or months to the process. It is best to avoid it happening in the first place, even if you can win in court.
If you end up in court, you may have to defend past behavior. Things will go best for you if you can show that you have maintained the rental in good condition and that you are seeking eviction with just cause.
Removing a Tenant
There are procedures you have to follow when evicting a tenant. In most cases, you are not supposed to remove their property even if they have already moved out.
In general, you will give the court judgment on an eviction to a sheriff or marshal. You will probably have to pay a fee. The sheriff or marshal will then tell the tenant that they need to leave within a certain number of days or else be removed by physical force.
Tenant Screening
Although it is not technically part of the eviction process, you will need to find new tenants after an eviction. Portfolio management and leasing management services can take this process off of your hands.
Professional property management services are experts in assessing tenants and finding the best candidates to rent properties.
Be Prepared to Manage the Eviction Process
We hope that you were able to learn something from this brief review of the eviction process. Evictions are never pleasant for any of the involved parties, but when they are well understood, they can at least be simple to manage. At some point, almost every property owner will have to deal with an eviction at some point.
To learn more about how to manage eviction of tenants as well as screening to find the best times, you can get in touch with us at any time here!
