Civvl - Has anyone heard of it?

Question

I just heard about Civvl today, visited their website, and I'm still not sure what they actually do. They claim to be "the Uber of evictions." Basically it's a gig app to recruit process servers, workers to clean out properties, and something called "Eviction standby." The link for that last one is actually an ad. The website is riddled with ads, actually. It's pretty terrible.

This company has popped up in my social media feeds, usually from people outraged at them. I've seen numerous news stories about it (just google Civvl, and there are plenty), but none is very descriptive, mostly just outrage porn. They all direct the reader to believe Civvl is a Brute Squad for hire to come and Fresh Prince your poor, innocent tenants and all the stuff out onto the street.

I have never had to evict, but I don't think it usually involves a posse to forcibly remove the tenant. I usually hear about the Sheriff getting involved, and maybe a team to clean the junk out once the tenant is gone.

Is there a market for this service (whatever it is)? I can't imagine hiring this particular company, for among other reasons, the bad press already associated with them.

I'm really just curious about it, because whenever I see outrage on the internet I try to imagine the other side, and usually find some truth (if any) in the middle.

Summer Addo · Answer

I just heard them recently myself. Based off what I’ve seen so far I’d say they are rushing to recruit reps to help with the huge back log of evictions coming up in February in CA.

Im an investor and owner of my own eviction company Local Evictions LLC in the GA market.

They seem to be recruiting for man power but doing a power job doing it. But I suppose the nature of the business most ppl won’t like you anyway regardless. We are all heartless landlords. How dare us attempting to collect unpaid rent.

The fact they have all the google Adsense on its website it’s a bit annoying for any user. I suppose let’s just see how it plays out for them.

Account Closed · Answer

Really any self managing landlord or PM should have a connection to a local trashout guy. Mine does demolition, moving, carpet removals, eviction setouts, and really anything where raw unskilled labor and hauling is required. He has saved my butt so many times, too. Arguably more important for a "team" than the Big 4 or whatever. Also, posting notices or "service" really should be the landlord or a staffer who can appear in court to attest that service was proper. It cant be some random joe.   Nothing I want sketchy bay area tech startups in the middle of.  Its like they see something in the news, think "i am the hero that will save these flyover morons" and then build a website that nobody asked for.

Honestly I thought CIVVL was some subversive art project commentary on how nasty evictions are. i was surprised that it was real, like how tone-deaf do you have to be?

Brian Garlington · Answer

Just remember.........no matter what CIVVL "promises" NOBODY can evect anyone in the U.S. for nonpayment of rent until after the Eviction Moratorium ends December 31st.

Stephen Kehoe · Answer

The eviction process is different in every county/city. So I would be suspicious of one company claiming nationwide expertise. And TaskRabbit already provides gig workers for moving possessions out. I'm still interested to learn more though.

Ryan Avila · Answer

I just heard about them today as well, also due to their bad press coverage so far. Although that is to be expected with our media outlets, remember landlord are evil and tenants are never in the wrong.

Their website looks very fly by night, as if a teenagers build it in about 5 minutes.

It will be interesting to see if they can get off the ground and actually provide a reliable eviction service. How great would that be if you did have to evict, you open an app, push a few buttons and then not having to worry about the process.

Also just found out that if you want to be a process server or other position with then, you have to pay a fee of $35/month to be listed in their app. So they are making money on both sides, from their 1099’s and from the landlords. Interesting business model, haven’t seen that one before that would be like uber changing you to be a driver in their app.

Frank Procopio · Answer

Never heard of them until now. I must agree their website is pretty shady