Eviction Update

[John Chapman]

A little while back, I posted about my first eviction and how easy the process was. (I got the place back within 3 weeks of filing, and that was only because the constables were backed up.) I figured I'd just wrap it up and tell everyone how it went.

On December 3, we did the set out. I was shocked. The guy left the place immaculate. As in nicer than I probably would have left it. He did leave a junker truck in the garage but a wrecker service came and hauled it away for free. There was some junk but nothing unreasonable. The only thing that stinks is he stole my front door and replaced it with a cheap crummy one.

In the end, my costs associated with the eviction were pretty minimal, about $440 for filing fees, constable fees, and goons for the set out. Security deposit made up for the lost November rent, and the place is already re-rented effective 12/20, so I only lost about 20 days of rent. There were some make-ready costs, but I would have probably done those when it went vacant. (The tenant was only about 3 months from the end of his lease.)

I will say that I was feeling pretty smug about getting off so easy, so the rental gods decided to punish me for my hubris. A couple of days ago a car smashed a portion of the fence, and yesterday we discovered a fiberglass shower pan is cracked so we've got completely redo the shower. Ah, the joys of landlording.