You might not be able to get a court date in the immediate future, but you can go through all of the rest of the process. 

It’s an old 2 bedroom with no basement and a functionally obsolete garage.

I suggest you start by contacting a real estate attorney and start the eviction process so that your claim is in line with the thousands of others when the courts open back up.You should also look into the mortgage forbearance options that you have that seem to allow you to push up to 90 days of mortgage payments to possibly the end of the fixed term of the note.Good luck!

I would then file in small claims(JP Court). 

Issue is you can't do that at the moment due to all the courts putting a halt on eviction proceedings.

Most every court in the USA has suspended eviction move outs due to COVID-19.

My lawyer said the court will not support such non refundable amount no matter what.  

I think most courts see that the tenant is acting on behalf of the landlord and not a separate entity hired to care for the property. 

I'm trying to keep this simple so in the example I'm not factoring in the filing fees, court costs, attorney fees, the unit turn (tenants being evicted typically don't clean and paint on their way out :) ), vacancy, marketing, and leasing fees that also come with an eviction.

It provides no assurances that landlords can collect rent, remove problem tenants, or get a fair hearing in the court system.