Another Amateur Landlord Loses Big

[Nathan Gesner]

https://mynorthwest.com/320840...

This is another terrible situation, but it could have been avoided. Near the end of the article, a Landlord-Tenant Coordinator states this situation could qualify for an eviction if the Landlord would just find a qualified attorney. That shouldn't be hard to do in a city of this size.

Some obvious mistakes I see from this Landlord:

1. She doesn't know her state laws;

2. She allowed the problem to fester for five years. I can guarantee that mess is not just from the last six months or even 12 months. This tenant has probably been trashing the property since the first 12 months but the Landlord kept accepting rent and hoping the problem would go away on its own;

3. It's a common mistake for novices to wait until a problem exists before learning how to deal with it. Can you imagine a cop spending five years on the beat, confronting an armed criminal, and then deciding he needs to learn how to respond to armed criminals?

Investing in real estate is a business. You will eventually fail - or at least lose some serious profit - if you fail to treat it as such. Don't wait for your tenant to stop paying before learning how to deal with an eviction. Don't wait until you need a property manager or attorney before you start looking for one. Prepare now! If I were in this Landlord's shoes, the Tenant would have likely been removed the first year and I wouldn't have dealt with four more years of headache or lost another year of rent income.

Read some books. Study your law. Make a list of common problems, then work on developing your plan for dealing with them, to include step-by-step instructions, forms, etc.

[Joe Villeneuve]

Here's one recommendation I always have for new (and experienced) Landlord (want-to-be's):  BEFORE you have to evict someone, go to eviction court and watch what happens.  Notice how little the landlord says, and needs to say, and should say.  In other words, don't say anything but answer the judges questions...and the questions are always the same:

1 - Why?
2 - How long?
3 - How much?
4 - Do you have your paperwork?

Don't ramble, it irritates the judge to no end.  Let the tenant do the rambling, and watch how the judge reacts to it.

Notice the difference between the landlords where this is their first eviction, to the veterans.  Notice what mistakes the new landlord makes both in court and leading up this court date, and how each dresses.  Notice what paperwork the experienced landlord brings, and how they answer each question, as opposed to how the new landlord does.

As Nathan says above.  Be prepared BEFORE you need to evict.