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Updated over 1 year ago,
How much does eviction law vary across cities/counties/states?
I see this question pop up a lot on BP: "how do I evict a tenant in [city, state]?" I've had to evict a few tenants from properties I've owned in different states, but I always rely on property managers to contact the law firms and work with an attorney to handle the eviction.
Of course, this is usually unnecessarily expensive. The attorney charge hundreds of dollars, if not well over a thousand dollars, to essentially follow a step-by-step guide for how to do an eviction. Send a notice, fill out specific paperwork, don't collect rent in the meantime, don't shut off utilities to retaliated against the tenant, etc.
I want to better understand:
1. How hard is it for a landlord to read and learn how to perform an eviction in their specific city/county/state?
2. How much does eviction law vary by city/county/state?
3. I assume most landlords' biggest fear when evicting a tenant is either losing the ruling (because they didn't follow the process correctly) or being sued themselves (because of adverse actions they took while trying to evict the tenant). But is it that hard to learn it yourself?
Is there anyone here who feels comfortable evicting tenants themselves without ever going through an attorney?