How have you processed your evictions?

Question

Need some expert thoughts on this real quick:

I have a unit where I'm going to be doing an eviction this week. I looked over my statements from my Property Management company for November and saw one of my tenants didn't pay their rent, this was on Nov 22nd. I contacted the PM she said she was "working" with the tenant. This tenant I inherited, has been there for 9 months, always paid on time. I'm all for keeping tenants in place but I'm not "working" with someone, that is just how I run my business.

I told the PM I could do a partial payment for Nov, then would expect a full payment on Dec 1st. Asked for an update after thanksgiving, on the 25th and was told the tenant "hung up" on the PM. I told the PM to file for the eviction.

So she is filing this Monday the 5th. The docket closes Tuesday the 6th, court Thursday the 15th, then removal the 16th. Get this though - the court doesn't evict for 2 weeks over Christmas.

The policy is rent is due the 1st, late after the 3rd.

In my mind I want to file within a week AT MOST of rent being due. A partial payment can extend the time - but if no partial payment is received then we will go ahead and file within the week. Does this seem reasonable? How do you all like to handle this type of thing? The info I get here is going to be relayed to my PM and we will process everyone that way going forward.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

If you have a strict policy, you should hire a PM that operates accordingly. My policy is: late fee on 5th, file 3-day on the 11th, and try to evict within 30 days to reduce losses. I explain that to my owners before we sign the agreement and again during signing. If I'm going to deviate from my process, I talk to the Landlord to explain my plan and ensure they are on board.You signed the contract and probably can't do much to change it now, but in the future you should be clear about your expectations and confirm the PM can perform to your standard.

Amber Forkey · Answer

@Jeremy H. Check with your local/State laws. In NY you have to give the tenant a 5 day grace period after the day the payment is due. So if rent is due on the 1st, 5 days after that is the 6th... this is the last day they can pay and avoid a late fee (again, by law). So on the 7th, late fees hit and we must serve notice #1 (we call this the courtesy late rent notice). 7 days after that, on the 14th, we post the 14 day pay or quit notice. So by the end of the month we can start an eviction case. And again, this is all what's required by NYS law if you're going to move forward with the eviction. Otherwise they can toss the case and make you start over from the beginning. So the following breakdown: Day 7- Courtesy "you need to pay your rent" notice goes up (both posted on door and regular mailed) *records are kept of mail date/location and photo evidence of notice posting*Day 14- "14 Day notice to Pay or Quit" goes up (posted on door and mailed both certified and regular) *records are kept of mail date/location and photo evidence of notice posting*Day 28- Eviction officially is filed with attorneyBy this time we hope that the tenant has made an effort to pay but if they are unwilling or will not communicate with us, we have no further choice but to bring legal action against the tenant(s). When they owe $3,000 and they can make a $200 payment in two weeks... unfortunately I can't accept that from a business standpoint or an owner standpoint. Hope my ramblings here helped you in some way. Good luck to you.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Jeremy H., turnover and vacancy are expensive. So, jumping to evict to me seems counterintuitive. My leases include a 5 day grace period. So, a late fee of $50 applies on the 6th. If a tenant communicates with me proactively about a temporary issue and they are a good tenant, I may waive the late fee. For example, "My car broke and I had to get it fixed so I could get to work. I get paid on the 10th and will pay in full then.". Like I said, this flexibility is by discretion and only for good tenants who communicate clearly like this and where the issue is very temporary. For a tenant who is habitually late or who does not communicate an issue like that, the late fee applies and in most cases if they have not paid by about the 21st of the month I will issue the 10 day pay or quit notice to begin the eviction process. If I don't think the tenant has an intention to pay, I will do this sooner. However, I rent to fairly responsible adults. So, generally they will pay and get things back on track.Evictions for me have become rare. I've collected OVER 100% of rent owed since before COVID (one tenant was behind going into COVID and caught up). I think my last eviction was about 5-6 years ago.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Jeremy H. your PMC should have started the eviction ASAP and THEN negotiated with tenant while the eviction clock is ticking.