 Landlord Wins Eviction Order:Now What? (Tenant Screening, Tenant Credit Check, Tenant Credit Report)It takes single-minded focus — along with proper documentation and a whole lot of patience – for a landlord to win an eviction order. Unfortunately, this is only the first step to recovering from a problem tenant.
By: Tenant Verification Service, Inc. The next task at hand may be to wait. While eviction laws vary, many times the tenant automatically has a few days to appeal the eviction order. Once all grace periods have passed, the landlord must coordinate with the sheriff to serve the tenant with the eviction order, often called a Writ of Possession, and set a date to physically remove a stubborn tenant. While the sheriff will force the tenant out of the property and stand guard over unruly tenants — he or she will not assist in removing any of the tenant’s belongings. That responsibility rests solely on the landlord. Now, the landlord must sort out any possessions the tenant left behind. Chances are they took anything of value (and hopefully only their own possessions) Next, the landlord must assess the unit and record any damage that may exist, before taking steps to restore the property and find a new tenant. Not all eviction courts allow a landlord to proceed on the fast track to get an eviction order and at the same time win a money judgment for unpaid rent or damages. If that’s the case, the landlord will need to go back to court to obtain a judgment before they can collect what is owed. Prior to filling the vacancy, a landlord recovering from an eviction should take some time to reflect on the experience with the former tenant, and decide whether any changes are in order before the pattern is repeated: Review tenant screening practices to determine whether the problem tenant could have been avoided. Were they qualified to be in the property? Did the landlord fail to run tenant screening reports that may have flagged a problem? Did the tenant have a good reference from a previous landlord? Next, determine if the rental application has enough information to locate a tenant for collection of unpaid rent. Were there gaps in the rental history, or statements that were left unverified before the tenant moved in? Did the lease agreement come up short? Review the lease agreement with respect to the right to evict. Did the landlord have a difficult time enforcing the lease during the eviction process. Ask the eviction attorney the same questions and update the form if necessary. Are there any policies that may have encouraged a bad tenant? For instance, if the lease provides too long of a grace period, late rent was ignored, the landlord did not inspect routinely or was not on hand to make repairs, a problem tenant may only get worse. If the landlord has a money judgment, they must now take that to collection. Finding the tenant may be the toughest hurdle to collecting what is owed. Fortunately, the judgment likely will remain valid for many years. If the first attempts at collection fail, there will be other opportunities once the tenant is reestablished financially. This post is provided by Tenant Verification Service, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening,Tenant Credit Check,(U.S. and Canada), as well as Tenant Credit Report, and Eviction Record Checks (U.S. only). Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws. View an Online Copy of the Article: http://www.tvslandlordblog.com/ Photos: https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ End
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