WWTBAM Bored

No, not me. But a friend of ours is in a real jam and I have no solid solutions. Perhaps one of you do. Here's the story:

Back in November, these friends of ours decided to rent their house to a family of three as they were moving out of state but could not sell their house quickly enough. So, they decided to rent it out. Unfortunately, the people they rented to have proved to be less than reliable and have not paid her rent since February. All efforts to try to get them evicted have been fruitless. She has tried to get hold of a lawyer but all the lawyers she has spoken with have either told her that they were not interested or could not get involved as the guy renting the house works for a bank they have ties to. I am at a loss as to what to advise her to do. Any suggestions?

Judge Judy doesn't like it when people break their lease.

Depends what state your friend's house is located. In GA, it's really easy to regain possession. In some counties, however, it takes a bit longer.

I can't speak for each state, but here, disspossesorys are handled in either Magistrate Court or State Court. Not much difference if the property is owned by an individual.

Just go to the proper court, file a dispo. If the tenant files an answer within 7 days, a court date is set. If there's no legal reason why rent hasn't been paid, the judge will give a money judgement to the landlord and require the tenant to move in 7 days. If there is a legal reason, the judge will hear the case, and most likely rule in favor of the landlord, thus give money judgement to landlord and give tenant 7 days to move. "I didn't pay the rent because I don't have the money" is not a legal reason.

If the tenant doesn't file an answer, or doesn't show up at court, the judge will give the landlord an immediate writ of possession. With that writ, the landlord can then go to the Marshal's office (or Sheriff's office) which instructs the Marshal/Sheriff to perform the eviction.

It takes some time, but it's an easy process...... in GA.

In some counties, I can have a tenant removed within the same month they don't pay rent. In others it takes longer.... maybe up to 3 months, but only because the Marshals are so backlogged.

I have heard that New York and California are not so "landlord friendly".

If you need any further help, send me an email.

Best of luck to your friend.

(People actually live in Iowa??????)

Im_Ace wrote:
(People actually live in Iowa??????)

Right now, Jesse from Big Brother lives there, naturally.

What's the venue?

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:What's the venue?

If you will write to me at galahad2k at gmail dot com I will explain the situation in detail.