First time eviction

[Jerry D.]

Heading to court today to file an eviction for the first time. I have done everything possible to avoid the situation. Some people are just no reasonable. The cost is going to be $192 to file the paper work. I am in Texas. I will let you know how it goes and any tips I can give. They are being evicted for not paying rent this month. I gave them 3 day notice on May 5. Taped on the front door. They have dogs so couldn't put inside of door. I took video and pictures of me doing it. I used my phone to show the date. I also sent it certified mail. I have the receipt for it but doubt they will sign for it. I told them if they are out by this weekend I would stop the eviction and they wouldn't need to show for court. I doubt that will happen. Its really frustrating because the guy basically told me you can wait two weeks and take a chance I will have the rent or you can take me to court and it will cost you time and money. I told him I couldn't take that chance and if he didn't have the rent in two weeks I would be two weeks further behind. He said ok. I just don't get it.

[Brian Levredge]

If you haven't yet, brush up on your responsibilities with regards to belonging the tenant leaves behind. The laws can vary by quite a bit from state to state. I own rentals in TN and CA. In TN you can basically just throw their stuff out the same day as someone else in this thread already mentioned. In CA you have to store people's belongings up to 30 days at which point you can dispose of it. You will also more than likely need to send the tenant an itemized statement of accounting if you plan to keep the deposit to offset costs. You can send it to their last known address (your unit) to satisfy the requirement. In CA. the failure to do so can result in you being penalized 3x the deposit amount by the judge even in the case of an eviction.