EVICTIONS - ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL HELP FOR LANDLORDS

Over the past few decades, the pendulum has shifted from landlord rights to tenant "privileges" leaving landlords at a strong disadvantage in protecting their own property rights. A few years ago a close friend of mine owned a nearly new single family residence in California. It took my friend over nine months to evict a "professional tenant" who knew all the tricks of avoiding eviction while living rent-free in his rental home. So it seems that there are plenty of advocacy groups and protective legal codes looking out for tenants who don't pay their rent, but what about the rights of the landlords?





Evictions are a common but unpleasant necessity for every landlord-commercial or residential. The goal of this article is to help landlords proceed through the eviction process with maximum efficiency while minimizing the difficulties landlords encounter during the eviction process.





Three Critical Tips for Minimizing Your Risk of Eviction?





Minimizing the risks of evictions in the first place is key for landlords. To begin with, you need to INVESTIGATE each prospective tenant prior to renting, including confirming current work status, credit worthiness, and determining whether your prospective tenant has been evicted on any prior occasions. Second, you must have a well-written lease agreement in place. Third, you must provide a clean and maintained rental premises.





However, once the tenant decides to stop paying his or her rent (or whatever other reasons you need to evict the tenant), you MUST comply with the legal formalities outlined in Utah Code Ann. § 78B-6-801 et seq. to evict the tenant.





What are the Seven Steps in a Typical Eviction?





In Utah as well as some other states, the following steps constitute the customary process for a legal an eviction:





1. Serve the Eviction Notice


a. a 3-day Notice to Pay or Quit


b. a 3-day Notice to Comply or Vacate


c. a 15-day "No Cause" Eviction, etc.





2. File the Complaint


a. A complaint in this instance is a written civil notice by the landlord setting out the facts on which the eviction is based. The purpose of the complaint is to give notice to the tenant of the nature and basis of the legal claim asserted.)





3. Have your Complaint Served


a. use a professional process server


b. request an alternate service if tenant tried to duck the service





4. File a Motion for Restitution


a. You will need to get a Judge's signature on this motion.





5. Serve the Order of Restitution on your Tenant


a. This must be served by a deputy sheriff





6. Lockout and Storage of Property





7. Obtain Final Judgment





What Can an Efficient Attorney Offer to Help Landlords?





There are several different types of evictions (e.g., failure to pay, nuisance, no cause, etc.). Notwithstanding what type of eviction you are looking for, our goals for every eviction are the following:





1. Do not lose a single day during the entire eviction process. This is critical! Once we file the first notice to vacate, it is our ultimate goal to not lose a single day in completing the eviction process. Many attorneys neglect to urgently move through the eviction process because they consider time as money-the more time the eviction process takes, the more money an unethical attorney can make!





2. Remove the tenant as fast as possible. This sounds harsh, but it is the time after a tenant receives notice of the eviction when the tenant is more likely to engage in destructive behavior towards the property. We get them out as soon as legally possible to minimize the risk of further damages to the property. In the case of my California friend mentioned previously, the delinquent tenant poured cement down all three toilets after living nine months rent-free in his rental home. It cost him over $8,500 in repair costs and $18,000 in lost rent because of my friend's own delay and lack of knowledge and experience in evicting the tenant.





3. Obtain the maximum statutory judgment in your favor. Utah eviction laws provide for treble damages. Treble (triple) damages are the recovery of three times the amount of actual financial losses suffered provided by Utah statute on eviction cases. Our attorneys move efficiently through the eviction process until we obtain the final judgment for the maximum amount allowable by law.





4. Collect on the judgment. If you know where the tenant works, you have an excellent chance of collecting on the final judgment. Otherwise, the collection process takes a lot more effort. You decide if you want to pursue the matter into collecting on the debt.





In short, we get you through the eviction process, from beginning to end, in an efficient and professional manner.





How Much do we Charge for an Eviction?





We charge a flat fee of $495 for uncontested evictions (not charged fully if tenant vacates prior to filing complaint). It is important to note that the flat fee only covers an uncontested eviction. However, should the tenant file an answer to the complaint, or the Court requires a hearing or alternate service, we will then charge our normal hourly rate for such other services. Excluding these other services, the flat fee covers you from the first notice until the final judgment. We estimate that 70% of our evictions are covered by the flat fee of $495. You are also responsible to pay the Court filing fees (approx. $185) and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the law firm (e.g., locksmith and process server).





Using a typical example, if you tenant's rent is $1,000 per month and the eviction process takes you three months to evict your delinquent tenant, you will lose $3,000 plus any associated fees. But by using experienced eviction specialists, you would, in this example, save about $2,500.





A commercial landlord owning seven office buildings in Salt Lake City tried for years to personally evict his delinquent lessees. Over the years, dozens of tenants employed various techniques to avoid paying rent, and when finally evicted, would typically load up their furniture and office equipment during the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. And since the landlord had no experience or knowledge of how to do an efficient skip trace on the former tenant, or even if located, didn't know how to collect the past due rent and lease balance. So he lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. What a sad story. Had he utilized our services early, he would have been in a much stronger financial condition now, instead of struggling as he has.





How Long does it Take for a Typical Eviction?





Ideally, your client will leave the premises before the deadline identified on the notice to vacate. However, an uncontested eviction usually takes about twenty to thirty days to have the tenant forcefully removed by the sheriff's office. Additionally, the tenant will likely be held liable for treble damages during this time.





For more information on the eviction process contact attorney Benjamin Horton JD, LLM at (801) 612-9299. www.ccanninglaw.com.