Eviction

Did you know

I got a phone call the other day from a very distraught landlord. She was beside herself. Several months before she had called and asked how to evict a tenant. She wanted to know what were the steps. I spent 15-20 minutes with her trying to calm her nerves and give her the step by step process.

Now she was calling again. I asked, “Did you evict them?”. She said,”Please don’t be upset with me but no I did not. I wanted to work with them. They seemed so sincere and I felt so bad for them. Now what do I do?”

“You start the process by hand delivering them a letter to vacate. Give them until tomorrow and then go to the Magistrate if they have not moved.”

This landlord had given these people 3 months to get caught up because she wanted to help them. Very admirable but all that happened was SHE was taken advantage of by the tenant.

There are some wonderful tenants who choose not to buy. They have money in the bank. They like living some place where someone else takes care of the repairs. 

Then there are tenants who live pay check to pay check. If they get behind, there is no way they are going to get caught up even though they have the best intentions.

In North Carolina it takes a minimum of 6 weeks to get a tenant out of a home and  many times longer. In Georgia it takes about 4 weeks. If a tenant has not paid for 3 months then the owner will lose 1-2 more months of rent before the tenant is out and then probably another month before a new tenant can move it.