My First Eviction Turned Into Greater Cash Flow
I received the email no landlord wants to receive. "It's the 11th of the month, Unit A hasn't paid rent yet. Do you want us to start the eviction process?"
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Being my first eviction and at times a hard ass, my initial reaction was, rent is due on the 5th, it's the 11th, why are just now bringing this to my attention? Why didn't you already file the eviction on the 6th and just let me know that you've done it? But, as I get older I'm learning that sometimes cooler heads do prevail and in more ways than one, this is certainly one of those examples.
A week later I followed up with Pensacola property manager to find out the status of the eviction. "She's fighting it", was their reply. "She paid rent through the court and now's she fighting it." I thought, that certainly sounds strange to me. If Tiffany Tenant (Tiffany is not tenant's real name BTW) had the money to pay rent, why didn't she? I'm now out $400 court costs. Again, being my first Pensacola eviction and trying to be wiser, I let it roll.
Before I go any further, I must admit I assumed Tiffany was a "professional renter." I inherited these tenants with the purchase of the property and at the time of the eviction they had 2 months left on their lease that was signed with the previous owner. I assumed the worst.
Toward the end of the month I receive a call from Tiffany. How she obtained my # I still don't know, but I appreciate her determination. We had a lengthy conversation about the eviction and her story was not matching up to the Pensacola property manager's. Tiffany brought up several maintenance items, that I was led to believe had been addressed - as in there were line items on my monthly maintenance statement from the property management company as being addressed. I figured the truth was somewhere in the middle but I needed to see for myself.
Sure enough, personally doing an inspection of the property, the maintenance items had not been addressed. The tenant even showed me the cancelled money order (date printed/receipt) where she attempted to pay rent through the property management company.
Why this transpired and I'm out $400 court costs, I still don't know, but I've now decided to manage this property myself. I was able to sign Tiffany to a new lease, one she is happy about and one that cash flows an extra $75/month for me. As for my Pensacola property management company, I see that relationship coming to an end soon, but for now I'll let it roll.
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