"How do you handle evictions?"

Hi, Wallace:  Thank you for dropping by, and for your comment.  It's also in our agreements that I CAN initiate the eviction and march things through when I deem necessary.  Other than the fact that the owner is officially the plaintiff in the processes, there's no involvement in the process on anyone else's part.  It's amazing how slippery a slope "evictions" can become as well.  Without a solid, consistent brokerage policy in effect, there's always the exposure that one looking to game the system can play the B. Hussein Obama "It's not FAIR that I got evicted and they didn't" cards...

Hi, Rob:  Where were you Thursday?  Ha... That's remarkably fast turnaround- even beating my Lake case where the deputy served my tenant the same day the case was filed.  Funny thing?  It was on April 1st, and the tenant thought it was "a joke".  Joke was on her non-paying self when her stuff was on the curb te next day.  She was at work I guess, but in such disbelief that at the time I met the sheriff her checkbook, debit card and tons of stuff were on her bed in the Master like she'd just left for the day.  Oops...!

Hi again, Rob:  Thank you for the feature.  Added exposure here is good- as as you well know, the courts here are in the red again and OC's Lydia Gardiner recently said she's going to push evictions and other civil actions aside somewhat in favor of criminal cases due to lack of funds.  Processing times and the total time frame required to effect an evicton HAS to be a big part of the discussion when speaking with an owner for the "evict/don't evict" questions.

Hi, Sussie:  Thank you for dropping by, and for your comment.  Pretty good analogy on your part, I suppose- though it's pretty danged hard to even see the apple!  When the best thing about an eviction is its' completion, there's hardly cause for rejoicing.  Owner loses money from rent, I lose money from a percentage of collected rents, tenant becomes "former tenant" once their days of being "Unknown tenant in possession" end.

Good thing down here in general is the speed, though- lightning fast versus Alabama evictions I had to handle.  There, it's actually the sheriff's deputies (typically a squad of 2-4, badges and all) that carry out the eviction and put the tenants' stuff on the curb.  Owner has to pay $40-$50/hr for each deputy.  Lack of folks on that detail would often have an eviction take 4 months.

25-45 days is no fun to deal with an eviction down here, but folks can't imagine what it's like to manage a place for 4 months (for free) while a hostile soon-to-be former tenant pretty much laughs at you.  As I mentioned in another video, owners obligation to maintain premises and the tenants' obligation to pay rent are mutually exclusive- which leads to a hostile owner that doesn't want to fix things for a tenant on their way out.

Over the years, I've discovered this truth, though:  the folks that do the best job in screening their applicants are the ones who have the least amount of evictions to deal with.  I've had 3 in the last 5 years- and for the most part, I'd attribute that to thorough screening practices.

Hi, Mike:  Thank you for dropping by, and for your comment.  I haven't had to evict the elderly yet!  Single mother of 6, yes- but not the elderly as of yet...