There are ups and downs with any real estate investment experience, but the eviction process is probably the hardest thing to deal with.
Landlords who have gone through this know that having a property management company on board from the beginning makes the eviction process much easier.
The biggest reason for evictions is a tenant who is late paying the rent. A property owner has to know the terms of the lease, which states exactly when rent is due, and if there is any grace period.
There are specific guidelines for the eviction process including:
Serving the tenant with a 3-day notice to “Pay or Quit”
How to serve the notice (whether it requires hand-delivery or via certified mail)
How to count the three days (the delivery day does not count, nor do weekends or holidays).
The eviction process requirements vary by state.
If the tenant will not leave, then you must go to your local court to start legal proceedings. You will be given a court date and will need to have the tenant summoned. When going to court bring any and all documentation to support your claim, including communication between you and the tenants, receipts, bounced checks, a copy of the lease, and proof of the 3-day notice. It may seem like an easy case, but this is where it gets complicated.
In Colorado, courts will decide in favor of the tenant
Since many tenants can’t deny they failed to pay the rent, they try to get out on a technicality. If you failed to complete any part of the eviction process or forgot to “dot an I or cross a T,” the court will decide in favor of the tenant. Then you have to start the process over.
The eviction process is complicated, time-consuming, and extremely stressful. The best thing you can do is partner with a property management company from the start, so there’s no need to panic when it gets to this point. They take care of all the legalities, including signing the lease and collecting the rent. If there is a problem, they know the eviction process and have the proof to go to court and win the eviction.
If you own investment property in the Denver area, contact us or call 720.989.1996 to take advantage of property management services. Legacy Properties-PM has the experience to find quality tenants so you probably won’t have to deal with an eviction in the first place, but if it comes to that, we know exactly how to handle it.
