When researching applicants I review county court records. I've recently had several applicants with eviction cases that were dismissed without prejudice.
Our policy is to not rent to anyone that has ever been served an eviction notice, and they are asked the question multiple times (most lie), so they get turned down anyway, but I really would like to know what this means exactly. I've never been evicted nor have I ever had to evict anyone so I'm unfamiliar with the process.
At the very least, someone with this on their record was served an eviction notice, right? Their landlord actually had to go to court and file an eviction against them? That's the only part I really care about. My assumption is either they moved out before the eviction was finalized or they paid whatever money was due and the landlord dropped the eviction, would that be somewhat accurate explanation of how this "dismissed without prejudice" would appear on someone's record?
Susan,
You are right: "someone with this on their record was served an eviction notice."
"Their landlord actually had to go to court and file an eviction against them?" Yes.
"My assumption is either they moved out before the eviction was finalized or they paid whatever money was due and the landlord dropped the eviction, would that be somewhat accurate explanation of how this "dismissed without prejudice" would appear on someone's record?" Correct assumption.
As Steven posted above, dismissed without prejudice carries with it the the option for the landlord to bring the charges again if whatever agreement was reached between the landlord and the tenant is not completed.
If your rule is not to rent to anyone with a prior eviction, this person would fall under that rule. Although, I'm sure they have a grand story about how it was not their fault! I have heard some great ones!
Good luck!
A dismissal without prejudice is a dismissal of a legal case that permits the plaintiff to bring the claim again, unlike a dismissal with prejudice, in which the matter is considered final. There are a number of reasons for a case to be dismissed without prejudice, including on the plaintiff's request or because the judge feels that the plaintiff cannot prove the case. For defendants, it is important to be aware that this type of dismissal carries some risks because it leaves them exposed to the possibility that another case will be filed.
Susan,
You are right: "someone with this on their record was served an eviction notice."
"Their landlord actually had to go to court and file an eviction against them?" Yes.
"My assumption is either they moved out before the eviction was finalized or they paid whatever money was due and the landlord dropped the eviction, would that be somewhat accurate explanation of how this "dismissed without prejudice" would appear on someone's record?" Correct assumption.
As Steven posted above, dismissed without prejudice carries with it the the option for the landlord to bring the charges again if whatever agreement was reached between the landlord and the tenant is not completed.
If your rule is not to rent to anyone with a prior eviction, this person would fall under that rule. Although, I'm sure they have a grand story about how it was not their fault! I have heard some great ones!
Good luck!
Thank you everyone, NormaJean especially!
Yes, each person I have rejected due to this has said "BUT it was DISMISSED". They just don't seem to understand that I never asked if they were evicted, but if they were ever served an eviction notice, because to me that's all that matters. That says to me that they were irresponsible or unwilling to work with the landlord to do the right thing and just move out when they couldn't pay the rent. Instead they dragged their feet and MADE their landlord file eviction on them before doing anything, and these are not people I want to rent to, I don't care what the story is.
I too had an eviction dismissed without prejudice about 6 mths ago. It was and still is an ongoing ugly situation. But in my "case" there was never a rental agreement, and also no landlord. Anyone can file an eviction. Doesn't mean they were in legal standing to do so. I am currently (OCT2016) living at my 93yr old mothers home who suffers from mild Dementia. And I'm her full-time 24/7 caregiver. A frustrated sister of mine who was her self appointed power of attorney is angry with me taking care of mom - so using her 32 years of legal secretary experience - to illegally become power of attorney she files a lawsuit to get me evicted claiming $2300 rent due for past 19 months = $43000 - it was overturned for many reasons. In the lawsuit she was claiming now claiming to be my landlord - and she provided the courts with a blank unsigned rental agreement - another reason it was overturned: my mother had given me full permission to live in her house rent free for two years after she died. And she still living and doing great!! This further frustrates my sister. We are currently in Conservatorship Court proceedings and I am now gonna try to get the LA Court to prevent my sister from doing this in the future. LA Superior Court made a ruling 9/6/16 that my sister cannot evict me - since Judge Barry made the ruling my sister has promised that I will still be getting evicted - and that she hopes I end up homeless living in the streets. Pure evil at the highest level.
Hi all, In 2014 our apt building was set fire by arson following a shooting 1 floor below our apt. This unfortunate incident happened at the end of sept in which our rent was already paid for that month. L&I deemed the place unfit to live because of the damages, we escaped the inferno without any bodily harm and went to stay with my daughter until we found suitable housing. We asked the property management countless times for relocation to another property of theirs because we no longer felt safe there, now mind you the majority of residents moved out immediately!! Their answer was no and the only thing they cared about was the building. So we told them we will be moving our possessions out and returning the keys by nov 1st and so we did. By mid November we received a letter from landlord tenant court notifying us that the property management is taking us to court for non payment of oct rent, now mind you in pa if license and inspections deemed a property not up to code the rent cannot be collected while in violation of said codes, they were not up to code by November either, so any who we went to court showed them our evidence and explained why we were not continuing on to live there, the ruling was withdrawn without prejudice? I don't know much about this and any clarification would be great! We applied for an apartment a few months back and our records reflect we owe the rental company for the months rent, can they do this?
I would still steer clear.
steer clear meaning don't try confronting property management? How else am I to get this removed from my records, I am looking for an apartment now and don't want to be turned down because of this.
No Jeanette Williams , Rosston Smith is advising the original poster to steer clear of the applicant and not responding to you. Post your question in an original thread started by yourself for more targeted and relevant responses. Hope that helps
Yeah totally my bad. I've been using the underdeveloped app. It won't let me respond to the original poster.
"Anyone can file an eviction. Doesn't mean they were in legal standing to do so." Absolutely! And I will forced to deal with the repercussions of a shady landlord for every future rental even though I was not actually evicted. After my landlord knew I was on to him for some illegal activities he moved to evict me but I was already in the process of leaving and was out of the apartment within ten days of him having served noticed. I documented everything but it doesn't matter because once an eviction is filed, rightly or wrongly there are companies collecting this information for databases for future landlords who won't be bothered to consider the facts. Never mind that I have never had a problem with any landlords prior to dealing with this bum and always pay rent on time and always keep photo evidence of leaving properties in excellent condition. People like Susan will immediately write off a responsible tenant because of some bum. Fortunately I am very happy in my new place (and they are happy with me) and my next home will be one I am purchasing. My advice to all renters is to research your landlord thoroughly before moving in. Had I done so I would have save a great deal of anxiety, money, and time because I would have known that he had several federal tax liens and was sued by creditors for skipping out on bills, hires undocumented workers, and sexually harasses female tenants.
Unfortunately in the process of me moving out of my mothers apartment in 2013, she was evicted. I was unable to get my name off of the lease in enough time as I was in the process of moving out. Now I am facing not being able to rent anywhere for the rest of my life because of her negligence. Is there anything that I can do? We received a judgement that it was dismissed and the Rent Bureau shows nothing on my SSN but I was stuck in a crappy situation that is ruining my life!
See u all hold it against some one with eviction papers u fall to realize sometimes it really is not there fault at all I have a friend right now who was her mom's primary care giver her brother got power of attorney from there Mom and he is now evicting his own sister out of there moms house to be a dick to her and refused to let her see her Mon cause one he knows there mom will not stand for it so you see don't be so fast to judge cause some one has been served eviction papers you can not always go by that.
Will a landlord take section 8 and not take me through rigorous screening criteria to make sure I can't rent?
Greetings I wanted to know how landlords feel about families affected by the high rent hikes of 2016 in Portland, Or? Went from $895.00 to an almost 50% increase in rent plus a $50.00 utility back and no new amenities. Seeing how I'm a disabled woman who receives SSI, and my husband is also in the filing process, we had to leave and had struggles making rent in 2016.
later an organization helped us pay off all debts and got us back into housing. I have 3 evictions 2 from the same company in 2016/that was bought out by a realtor from California, that didn't care we had lived there 4 years with no issues until rent hike.
Now I have the new Mainstream Section 811 voucher for disabled low-income families. I have a clean criminal background, and the 3 evictions have all been dismissed.
Sadly I heard a realtor(here) make the claim that people who get evicted had to be due to neglect to pay their rent. Maybe that's the case for some. But some of us got caught in the middle of the Domestic violence issues properties face, vandalism, and now more increasingly Drug addiction. Making landlords more strict with whom they rent to. Understandable.
Yet in many cases, people with disabilities are often placed in the same bad bunch of apples posed by those who simply run into financial issues.
I've even heard people say, they're reluctant to rent to people with section 8 due a
To the assumption, we will neglect our property. Again I don't know how much of this is true, but what about those people who truly are good people and for whatever reason run into a problem that "wasn't" due to "domestic violence, a inability to work, or Drug or alcohol addiction"?
I'm wondering since my evictions are all paid in full, and now have a permanent program for housing, will a landlord give me and my family a chance?
I went to court yesterday to fight my eviction and the judge dismissed my case. Although I had what I needed ( according to me ). I only had 5 days to prepare and learned that if I fought it and lost that if I wasn't out 5 days after the judgement the sheriff would physically remove me. I have always been a stellar tenant, always recieve my deposit back never ever have left any place I've resided at without making it look like it did or as close to when I received it. I have lived here for more than 3 years and have not always been current but the LL told me he excused it. I have been paying each month what they told me I owed when I called in or spoke with them dropping of partial payments sometimes and he said that was fine but on the 5 day pay or quit he included all the late charges due for 10 months? Then what the ledger he submitted from his own company to file the complaint and what he was actually filing that I owed was off by 1000 dollars. This really sucks because Although the judge dismissed the case I still have the chance of them coming after me in a civil suit and they can completely destroy my credit, which I just spent the last 5 years repairing. And worst if all I wanted to pay what I knew I owed and the owner wouldn't take it and now I have him threatening to go to the ends of the earth to get what I owe him when I can prove that I do not but because he wanted to hurt me now I have to go fight in court again to prove him wrong !!!! Wtf I thought it was innocent until proven guilty not the other way around. I'm getting out, I had all intentions of and had cash in hand too. He told me to keep it and be out in 10 days I was hesitant then the judge stated that they had told her a few times that I had given them money within that month and actually it was the day before. She stated that she had to dismiss the case in the basis that they accepted the money so they are pissed. Thia is so ****ed up to top it off I have been getting state aid to pay my rent and they want to go back 10 months and charge me all those late fees. When I couldn't pay 5 day pay or quit. It's just because the place I have is worth double now than what I pay in rent so I don't blame them. It the how you go about it there is simply not mutual respect and no one's word means **** anymore
I don't mean to be rude but while you stand on your high horse maybe u might consider this . I am a tenant who paid rent who had a dick for a landlord who tried to wrongfully evict me because he wanted what he rented to me back just because he did not talk to me he just tried to make me move because he said so it ended up in court it was dismissed without prejudice because he didn't follow the rules. Remember I did nothing wrong rent paid in full so why should u not rent to me ? Because the landlord is a dick and I paid my rent or because u want to stereotype me with a legal term if I where an applicant and u used this against me and denied me because of it .in California I believe I might have legal action against you. Read the laws..
So, we're going to totally dismiss the fact that people suffered during the Pandemic. Furloughed and on unemployment. Couldn't pay their rent. But, Landlords shouldn't rent to them. @NormaJean Cupp, I've heard some good excuses also, but no renter asked to be laid-off during a Pandemic that was not even their fault; yet it's still being held over the renter's head as if it were their fault. Seriously? Landlords should go back to doing their background search and asking questions of potential renters. Using 3rd party sources to determine whether someone is "worthy" to rent from you is bogus because each 3rd party source has different, inaccurate information.
Thank you everyone, NormaJean especially!
Yes, each person I have rejected due to this has said "BUT it was DISMISSED". They just don't seem to understand that I never asked if they were evicted, but if they were ever served an eviction notice, because to me that's all that matters. That says to me that they were irresponsible or unwilling to work with the landlord to do the right thing and just move out when they couldn't pay the rent. Instead they dragged their feet and MADE their landlord file eviction on them before doing anything, and these are not people I want to rent to, I don't care what the story is.
Good luck with your assumptions, imagination and your sore shoulder from patting yourself on the back for being so omniscient.
Thank you everyone, NormaJean especially!
Yes, each person I have rejected due to this has said "BUT it was DISMISSED". They just don't seem to understand that I never asked if they were evicted, but if they were ever served an eviction notice, because to me that's all that matters. That says to me that they were irresponsible or unwilling to work with the landlord to do the right thing and just move out when they couldn't pay the rent. Instead they dragged their feet and MADE their landlord file eviction on them before doing anything, and these are not people I want to rent to, I don't care what the story is.
Good luck with your assumptions, imagination and your sore shoulder from patting yourself on the back for being so omniscient.
If you have a policy to not rent to anyone with an eviction, why are you considering this person at all? No point in having a policy if you bend the rules- it's gotta be black and white. I'd be willing to bet most of the tenant problems people post on BP about are when they make an exception to their screening criteria.
If you constantly have to deal with applicants with evictions, you are in the wrong market or have the wrong property.
I went through every post here and I can see some people may consider someone with an eviction and some may not. From my experience as a beginner I will say do not even think of dealing with someone that has an eviction in the past. I recently met these people who asked to rent one of my rooms. The lady is a radiologist who was trying to help her friend who had an eviction and she signed the lease for him and he co-signed. The app that I used did the background check of the lady only but not the guy and by the time I check on the guy online and found out that he had an eviction the lease was already signed and I asked him about the eviction he came with the perfect story and I said well. He paid the first month with the deposit, seemed amazing and we are in the second month I have not yet received his payment, he keeps on giving me different days but nothing. Today the lady that signed the lease called and ask to terminate the lease and she is willing to pay what he own but he is refusing to sign his part, right now she is very frustrated and I really don’t even know what to do at this point. She is very scared and keep on asking me the steps that she can take to get off the lease but I really don’t know