Section 8, Evictions, and Property Management

[Stacy Santini]

I'm in my first year of out-of-state investing and have a single-family home in Birmingham that is rented to a Section 8 tenant.  The tenant has stopped paying rent and my property manager says they will begin the eviction process.  Unfortunately, the property management group has given me plenty of reasons to question if they are acting swiftly and appropriately to remove the tenant. So I have a couple of questions for those of you who may know. 

1. How long are evictions taking in Birmingham these days from filing to removal?

2. Is there a large need for section 8 in the area or is this a more straight-rent city? 

3. Does anyone have a solid property management team they recommend? 

I would love to be able to invest in this city but without a solid property manager, I can't purchase more investments.

[Bryan Hartlen]

Quote from @Stacy Santini:

Thank you, ill check out the link to try and find my next pm and the questions to ask are very helpful. I too researched the eviction timeline online because my property manager told me it's 6 months to a year and that didn't align with what I saw. 

We have several section 8 rentals and currently use two different property management companies.  First of all, I don't believe you'll ever be truly satisfied with a PM company but they are a necessary evil for out of state investors. 

As for eviction timelines in Birmingham:  the online timelines you are reading are the fastest possible given the various laws / rules required to evict.  We've been told by multiple PM companies that the actual timelines are much longer because of the sheriff dept short staffing.  It's taking weeks to months to get them to serve notice.