All Forum Posts by: William HooFatt

Thanks Kyle,

Tenant offered no reasoning on why they did not owe rent.

The Hearing:

Judge:  Mr. Landlord, you are filing for Unlawful detainger because the tenant owes you back rent.  Is that true?

Landlord:  Yes. Your Honor.

Judge:  Tenant, the landlord says you owe hime back rent.  Do you Agree?  Or Disagree?

Tenant:  Disagree.

Judge:  Very well.  I move this case to Trial, date set of 9:30 AM two weeks from today.  Is that good for both of you?

We both agreed.

Tenant argument to me has always been, they are unable to pay rent due to PTSD suffered when they had several relatives die.  So they quit their job and moved from Florida to DC.  Their menial job has not paid them in over a month.  They have been diagnosed ith bipolar disorder.

Here in Virginia, there is a volunteer group that sets up at the entrance of the courthouse and they coach tenant's on what to say to delay evictions, or get the case thrown out of court.  So I worry about the gotchas.

Thru research I already found the one about getting signed acknowlegement of Tenant's Rights and Responsibilites.  That actually went into law in Virginia July 2023.  I had never heard of that.  I usually point tenants to the Tenants Rights websie.  But now I have to make part of the lease and get a signed form.

I maintain the property and have emails and texts with the Tenant's requests for maintenance and immediately respond and have acknowledgment from them when the maintenance flks arrive to do repairs.  i,e Tenant reported HVAC was not working.  Building engineer investigated and reported they did not turn on the blower fan to the convector!

So, I'm worried about other stuff.  I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know what I don't know.

Looking at the vast number of court cases in the public database, I find only one property our of several hundred that appears to be represented by the landlord.  All the others have law firms... and those law firms only have interest in your case if you manage a big apartment complex.

I'm just a Mom & Pop Landlord.

 How did this work out for you? 

I'm doing my first eviction and I'm worried the tenant has tricks to delaying the eviction.

I've already got:

- Signed lease

-  Five Day notice to pay or quit delivered by the Sheriff

- Tenants Rights and Responsibilities Acknowledgement form signed by tenant acknowledging receipt of legal aid info.

- Rent Ledger and payment history from the online payment service to track rent payments

- Email correspondence between Landlord and Tenant regarding rent and maintenance on the property.

Already had the hearing where the tenant showed up and disagreed that they owe rent.  Judge ordered date to move to trial.

Do I need a lawyer?  What kinds of "gotcha's" could hinder my case without an attorney to help?