First Rental Property

The most important thing that you can do while you are dealing with an eviction, is to actually  know the process.

Not only do you need to know the eviction process well, you need to know it better than anyone else.

I can’t stress these words enough.

Know the Process!

You need to know the process better than your tenants and better than your property manager if you are working with one.

If you do not know the process better than everyone else, you are going to be in for trouble.

You are going to be in for trouble because this means that someone else, other than you knows the eviction process better.  This could be your tenant, or this could be your property manager.

So what if they know the eviction process better?

You better be concerned if you do not know the process better than others.  Having a misunderstanding of or having a lack of knowledge concerning the eviction process is what causes a lot of pain and suffering.

This pain and suffering is felt by you, the real estate investor.

The pain and suffering manifests itself in the form of missed deadlines and misinterpretations of the eviction process.

Missed Deadlines

As we have covered in previous posts, the ruling body responsible for overseeing your hearing requires you to submit documentation at different times throughout the eviction process.  Paperwork needs to be submitted either to the tenants directly, or straight to the ruling body itself.  Keeping in mind that rules and regulations concerning evictions vary between jurisdictions.

You have to have an in depth understanding of when all of the deadlines are.    This is important as failing to submit documentation by a certain date can delay the eviction process and in some cases void the eviction process altogether.

If you do not have a good understanding of these deadlines, plain and simple, it is going to be very easy to miss them.

If you lack knowledge with regards to these deadlines, you may depend on information provided to you by other people as to when these deadlines are.  For instance, you may ask a friend or your property manager when a certain deadline is.  Your property manager or your friend give you the information and you do not question it whatsoever.

Now consider this…

What happens if the information that someone gave you  is wrong regarding the eviction process?   For instance, someone can give you the wrong time frame in which you are supposed to submit paperwork to your tenant.

Here is what happens as a result…

What happens in most cases is that people will take the information at face value and not question the information at all.

This is dangerous as this can result in a delayed eviction process.

For example, there are certain time lines imposed by the ruling body in your jurisdiction.

You may get a certain amount of days in which you have to serve your tenants with specific paperwork.  If you fail to serve the required paperwork to your tenants during the necessary timeline, this can cause the eviction process to be delayed.

Time is of the essence during the eviction process.

If your tenants are not paying, as a real estate investor and landlord, it is in your best interest to get non-paying tenants out of there as quickly as you possibly can.

In the next installment of How to Evict a Tenant, I am going to talk about a secret weapon that every landlord should have with them, as they battle their way through the eviction process.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: Spread the word about First Rental Property.  Sign up for The First Rental Property Newsletter to get great tips on how to become a successful real estate investor!

pps: Don’t be afraid of the eviction process.  Keep positive and you will get through it!

How to Evict a Tenant Part One

How to Evict a Tenant Part Two

How to Evict a Tenant Part Three

How to Evict a Tenant Part Four

How to Evict a Tenant Part Five

How to Evict a Tenant Part Six