Friday, February 11, 2011

Taking the Step Toward Evicting A Problem Tenant

When all attempts to resolve disputes and solve problems with problem tenants fail, the only thing left is to evict the tenant. If you’re ready for that unfortunate step, be sure you are within your legal rights to do so. If you are, the next challenge is to craft a proper eviction notice.

First, check with the eviction laws in the city where the property is located. If the notice is incorrectly filled out or lacks the right information, it will not be valid and the process of getting rid of your problem tenants will drag on longer than you want.

Get a three-day notice with a carbon copy attachment so you’ll have a copy for your records. Fill out the notice with all legally required information, including the tenant’s name, the address of the unit, the amount of money they owe, the last date they paid rent, the current date, and your name and phone number. If you are the property manager and not the owner of the property, write “manager” next to your name.

Once you sign the three-day notice, deliver it yourself to the tenant. Either knock on the door and hand over the notice to the problem tenant, or tape it to the door so they will see it upon their return.

After three business days, if the tenant hasn’t responded to the notice by coming up with the money owed, you can take your copy of the notice and file for an eviction at the local courthouse. There will be a fee for filing, and you’ll be given a court date for the next step toward evicting your problem tenant.

Credit reports can tell a lot about a potential tenant, but they do not show whether someone has a previous eviction notice. Fill in the blanks on a prospective tenant’s background by using a tenant screening service to see important details about their rental history.

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