
THE LONGER YOU WAIT TO EVICT, THE MORE THE MATH STACKS UP AGAINST YOU
Evictions are the number one fear for many rental property owners. They are costly, time consuming, and uncomfortable. And all too often discomfort is accompanied by delay. When it comes to the unfortunate situation where you have a non-paying tenant, the best move is to move quickly. Evicting early and often is the best recipe to protect yourself from a costly eviction experience.
NOTE: THE ARTICLE IS PART 2 OF A NEXUS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DOCUSERIES ON EVICTIONS. ADDITIONAL LINKS WILL BE PROVIDED BELOW.
EVICT EARLY
If a tenant is late in payment, even if it’s just one day, you should take the first steps in the eviction process, as laid out by your state. This will be a formal notice, with teeth, that says pay your rent or you’re out. Different states have different grace periods and lengths for payment that accompany their Notices To Quit so you’ll need to familiarize yourself with your local guidelines. Establishing a relationship with a property manager or real estate attorney will be helpful even beyond this specific issue.
In over 12 years of property management across 4 states, we’ve attended court for 100s of eviction cases and time and time again, while waiting for one of our cases, we listen to landlords pleading with the judge for 6 months of rent payment owed. You cannot just wait and hope the justicial system will help you out. That is simply not how it works. Those landlords never see that money…because they waited too long and hoped for the best.
LEARN MORE: 3 TIPS TO MINIMIZE LOSS AND RISK DURING AN EVICTION
WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE IMMEDIATELY
States already build in steps or time periods of forgiveness and opportunity. In Connecticut, for example, (let’s say) rent is due on the first of the month but by state law landlords cannot take any actions (including assessing late fees) until a 9 day grace period has expired. Laws like these exist to protect tenants should they fall on bad luck or have some slip up…so they’re not being penalized or evicted too quickly without good reason. 10 days is a time period that lawmakers have settled on as fair for tenants. So why would you provide an 11th? or 12th? or extend until the end of the month? or beyond?
Rental property owners may want to delay because they know evictions and turnovers are costly. They’re not wrong. But they fail to calculate the fact that that cost increases dramatically when you add in the lost rent that results from delayed action. To expand on that landlord that waits 6 months…the legal fees and costs to get his property rent ready for the next tenant have not decreased one cent, and he’s now out 6 full month’s of income!!!
LEARN MORE: AN OVERVIEW OF EVICTIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS
KEEP THE MATH ON YOUR SIDE
The number one reason to evict quickly comes down to math. The longer it takes you to evict a tenant, the more it becomes cheaper for the tenant to leave than it becomes for them to pay you back. If they owe you just a month’s rent, it makes sense for them to pay you back and stay in the apartment. However, if they owe you 4 months rent, it’s actually cheaper for them to pay a new landlord a brand new security deposit and first month’s rent than it is to pay you back…so why would they?
To add simple figures to the example: Rent is $1000 and they owe you $4000. They can walk away and pay someone new a security deposit of $1500 and a first month of the same size and they’re still up $1000 by leaving your apartment. So they’re starting fresh. What do you get? You can keep their $1000 security deposit but with non-paying tenants it’s very likely much of that will need to be applied to damages. And then you need to somehow find a way to recoup money from someone who’s already vacated your property…it’s very, very unlikely.
LEARN MORE: NEXUS INTERVIEWS EVICTION ATTORNEY STEVE CONTI (1.4K VIEWS)
TIME OUT…HOW’D WE GO FROM ONE DAY TO FOUR MONTHS???
Successful business people establish and follow rules. If your rule is to begin eviction on day one, there is no vulnerable gray area. If your rule is to evict at some point when it seems like they’re not going to pay or you’re sick of their excuses, it’ll be four months before you know it.
There’s also the all important variable of how long it takes for evictions to travel through the legal system. It will vary from state to state but in general it’s going to take 2 to 4 months to get through the eviction process.
LEARN MORE: WHY INTERIOR INSPECTIONS ARE NOT AS GOOD AN IDEA AS YOU MIGHT THINK
EVICT OFTEN:
The other piece of the puzzle is that you need to be consistent. You may take a tenant to court for eviction and you may walk away with a payment plan that the judge had deemed fair for both parties. If the tenant does not live up to that schedule, you need to evict again, right away. It’s easy to say the courts are not on landlords’ sides, but that’s not entirely true. Rules born out through legislation is typically what makes the eviction process so time consuming and headache inducing. When you have a judgment in hand, you need to exercise it without delay or deviation.
HOW BEST TO AVOID HAVING TO EVICT
We’ve written at great expense about the best practices to help minimize the chances you end up with a costly eviction. The first is to take extra time and attention during the leasing process. Getting the right tenant in your rental property is the best thing you can do to limit the likelihood of an eviction. This requires complete background checks and is worth hiring a professional to assist with. Secondly, you need to ensure you’re responsive to maintenance requests. Tenants are most likely to become problematic when they feel they’re not getting the value they’re paying for. Again, there are professional property managers that specialize in taking care of these issues and fostering strong relationships to help mitigate your risks.
LEARN MORE: THE BEST WAY TO AVOID A PAINFUL EVICTION
EVICTIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS - DOCUSERIES VIDEOS:
Across our Nexus Property Management® franchise offices, our “Eviction” pages are consistently the most visited (after pricing). For that reason, Jesse Mayo is sharing his experiences from his office in Worcester, Massachusetts. This article is a general look at eviction across the country. You can find the subsequent videos and articles by visiting the links below or by visiting our @NexusPropertyManagement Youtube Channel.
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Massachusetts’ Evictions - Part 1: An Overview (video)
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Massachusetts’ Evictions - Part 2: For Cause Evictions
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Massachusetts’ Evictions - Part 3: For Cause Example
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Massachusetts’ Evictions - Part 4: Not For Cause Evictions
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Massachusetts’ Evictions - Part 5: Not For Cause Evictions (The Court Process)
Mick Lefort is the General Manager of Nexus' New Haven County Franchise Office and the Vice President of Operations for Nexus Property Management®, a National Property Management Franchise that manages all types of rental property from single family homes or condos to large apartment buildings and complexes.
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