I just went through my first eviction and let me just say man was it fun. I hired a lawyer for the eviction but now they want $1750 to file for the monetary damages. Based on everything I have heard I am not expecting to actually collect any of the damages that should be awarded to me so I feel like paying the lawyer is just throwing good money after bad and I can file everything on my own for about a hundred bucks.
Here is where I am at.
My tenants paid most of July rent, late. I was trying to get them to move out by August as I didn't want to go through the eviction process and I didn't think they would have rent by the first so I thought we could all be adults and come to some reasonable agreement. This was also only the second month in the property, off to a great start. I ended up getting most of the rent on the 16th, at which point my requests to find a new place broke down and I knew we would likely have to evict based on failure to pay rent and late fees. I thought there was a decent chance they would come up with the last bit of rent so I didn't post the 3 day notice at that point. Lesson learned to always serve the 3 day notice on the first possible day.
They did end up getting the last of the rent to me before the end of July, however, the check was returned. August 2nd I posted a 3 day notice for August rent and the remainder of July and the associated late fees. Those days came and went so my lawyer filed the next writ and got a return date scheduled.
The tenants showed up for the return date and agreed to a stipulation that they would be out the 26th, they had 11 days to move. The 26th came and went. At this point my retainer had run out and it was going to cost another $100 or so to have them file the writ of restitution plus filing costs. I was also told that because they failed to adhere to the stipulation we could file for a monetary judgement based on that but that was going to be a new retainer of the $1750. There was/is also a chance the judge doesn't award me the damages based on that and we have to go to trial which would cost even more. That is when I decided I would go at it on my own.
We filed a writ of restitution and have a lockout scheduled with the sheriff for a time this coming week. They contacted us saying they were getting a truck Saturday (September 1st) and would be out in the afternoon. So we drove down and hung out around town waiting for them to call and let us know they were out. Finally at 10pm tonight I asked for an update and they said they were out.
The garage is still filled with their junk. Everything else looks fine from first look. Had they been out on the 26th I think I would have had a decent chance at getting it rented for the 1st.
Wrapping this all up and getting back to my initial question, how do I calculate rent damages on this.
The lawyer had figured how much was owed up to the point in August when the 3 day notice expired. Can I add late fees and interest for August beyond the 5th? Can I include anything for the month of September as they were in there all day today and failure to leave on the 26th made me loose an entire week of prep time? At this point I am just putting what we had requested in the 3 day plus the legal fees. I would love to be able to add in something for the 7 additional stressful days and the costs on not having the ability to get it relisted, shown, and rented.
Any guidance would be great. I am currently expecting all of this to be a loss and a rather expensive lesson but I do want to have a judgement against them for what is owed. That way I can hopefully save another smaller landlord from being scammed by these people.
Thanks for getting through this long post and I appreciate any feedback. Also I am in Colorado if that makes any difference.
