Handling evictions properly

[Jim K.]

Hi guys. I want to start working on my blog here in a bit and write some longer, informed answers to commonly asked questions. One of the main questions I find myself answering for hopeful OOS investors over and over again happens to be, "Which state has the most landlord-friendly law?" To my mind, that is the WRONG question to ask if you're thinking about investing in areas where you think you'll probably have to evict sooner or later to get rid of tenants, to wit, low-C-minus areas shading into D-class, or (if you think that's what you want) the cheapest of the cheap war-zone, D-class areas.

I live and operate in PA, in Allegheny County, to be specific in the geographical City of Pittsburgh and just outside in some of the near suburbs. I operate in low-C-class territory. Nobody would call this particular region of the state of Pennsylvania "landlord-friendly." At the same time, I have never spent more than three hundred bucks in court to make an eviction happen. I have never had an eviction drag on longer than two months. Never had an case thrown out of court. And I am not in any way some kind of super local expert when it comes to the process.

So in this post, I'd like to ask the BP community: what are your thoughts on this? Do new posters here ask the RIGHT questions about eviction in your opinions? What SHOULD they be focusing on? Does investing a "landlord-friendly" state guarantee that your case going to end up in front of a sympathetic judge or magistrate? Does it guarantee that you'll have a PM representing you that the judges, informed as they usually are by the local police and their colleagues, will be favorably or at least neutrally listened to? Because I NEVER see THOSE questions asked in the forums here, and I believe those questions matter a whole hell of a lot of a lot more to eviction than if your state has "favorable" or "unfavorable" landlord-tenant laws.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jim K.:

No, people generally don't ask the right questions because they don't know enough. 

States with fair laws and courts are important. What's really important? Knowing the law, treating tenants honesty and fairly, documenting everything thoroughly, and establishing strong policies and procedures to stop problems quickly. That will keep you out of court, which is far more important than winning in court.

I have 400 units under management and have only performed two court evictions in the last ten years, but I've kicked out dozens of Tenants for non-performance through other means.