Evictions are the ugly part of being a landlord. You don't want to make someone leave their home. But you also want to protect your rental property investment.
While you carefully screen tenants and hope for the best, you may need to evict a tenant. When this happens, it's helpful to understand the process. That way, you understand your rights and responsibilities.
Reasons to Evict
Landlords must have a legal reason to evict a tenant. Reasons can include violating the lease agreement, not paying the rent, engaging in illegal activity on the property, or being a nuisance to the neighborhood. Careful tenant screening can help you avoid many of these issues.
Cannot Be Retaliatory
You cannot evict a tenant from your rental property for submitting maintenance requests. A landlord must maintain a safe and habitable property for the tenant.
Florida eviction laws protect tenants from retaliatory evictions.
Do Not Violate the Lease
Review your lease to ensure you have not violated your lease. If your rental eviction reaches the hearing phase, the tenant can present a defense that includes your lease violations. This can be damaging to your eviction claim.
Notify the Tenant
Communicate with the tenant in writing about their lease violation. State the lease violation the tenant committed. Outline how the tenant can correct the situation.
Include in the letter the length of time the tenant has to correct the issue. The length of time will depend on the issue. For example, the tenant could have three days to correct nonpayment of rent or seven days for a lease violation.
Claim Filing and Hearing
You can proceed with eviction if the tenant fails to correct the issue. File with the clerk of court in the jurisdiction where the rental property is located. Once filed, you will have the tenant served a summons.
You and the tenant will appear at a scheduled hearing to argue your position before a judge. You can get a default judgment if the tenant fails to respond to the summons or appear for the hearing.
If the tenant does attend the hearing, they may present defenses. You will need to present arguments and evidence that counter these defenses. The judge will rule in your or the tenant's favor.
Tenant Removal
The final step of the eviction process is to have the tenant removed. You will arrange for a law enforcement officer to execute the writ of possession. Do not attempt to self-help by forcibly removing the tenant yourself.
Once the tenant moves out, they have ten days to collect their belongings. You can charge the tenant a reasonable amount to store their belongings. If the tenant has not picked up their property after the required waiting period, you can dispose of it how you see fit.
Handle Evictions Appropriately
While all landlords hope they never have to deal with evictions, it can and does happen. Your best approach is to understand the law and the required process. By following the proper procedure, you can protect your rental property from problematic tenants.
RightHouse Realty's property managers handle the eviction process for rental property owners. Our knowledgeable team follows the law while actively protecting our clients.
Protect your rental property from problematic tenants by working with RightHouse Realty.
