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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (59072)	8/4/2006 9:21:01 AM
From: BWAC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Another installment of why NOT to rent out a house: Spent the morning in small claims court Thursday trying to get a judgment for back rent and damages, lucky as I am I was case #27 out of 27! Things I learned: 1.) 25 of 27 cases were landlord/tenant related. 2.) 26 cases resulted in a judgment (with monetary value)for the plaintiff. 3.) Some tenants are dumber than others. 4.) Smart tenants bolt when they first receive the eviction notice in the mail. 5.) Sheriff don't move as fast as the mail in regards to physically serving summons. 6.) A summons nailed to the door by the Sheriff IS NOT sufficient to recover monetary rent or damages if the tenant bolts in the day or two time frame between a mailed summons being received and the Sheriff actually doing his job physically serving it. 7.) #6 applies even if tenant leaves personal belongings at the residence as of court date. 8.) A tenant who abandons the property in the above manner (including cutting off their own power and water services) still gets 10 days from the court date to come get their crap. 9.) The locks can't be changed in such a situation as above until 10 days. 10.) The landlord who took the rental house front door home "for repair" in a rent dispute even won. This was case #26, the judge actually found it funny. Could barely control himself when the landlord said she had to take the toilets out for repair the next week. Tenant showed, presented evidence, and of course lost. 11.) Court room clears except for me, case #27 plaintiff. Contracts in hand, pictures in hand, damage, cleanup, and trash removal estimates gathered, Realtors who got me into this mess as witnesses, story ready ..................... and I leave as the only landlord without a complete victory. Got nothing more than a 10 day eviction. Even in an obvious abandonment situation. No monetary judgment (just for the fun of having it, not like I expected to collect). 12.) "Front Door" tenants had waited downstairs to accost their landlord as she left the courthouse. And did. Many Sheriff's milled around but never came to control the situation.