Horror Stories

STORY 1

I went to a court in Arlington and had never been to that court before.  I started to talk to a couple people that had been to the court before.  I just look for the people with the most files.  They are typically managers that work for apartment complexes.  I asked what the judge required and how long they take.  They explained the details and I was very prepared.

We get into court and I am the third person.  The two different people I was talking to had logged in first so they were before me.  The first person goes up to the judge and the judge wants to see the "Move Out Notice'.  She asked how the resident was served and she said the form was wrong.  The manager was about to argue, but she gave in real quick and left.  Bottom line is this person wrote the notice wrong.  There was a period of time they had to wait before they could actually file the eviction and it was wrong.  That manager lost two weeks minimum, including the court cost.

The next person had more files than anyone in the court.  She had nine people to evict to be exact.  She goes up and the judge asks for the "Move Out Notice".  The judge immediately looked at the date on the move out notice and the date the eviction was filed and said not enough time had lapsed.  Guess what?  ALL nine evictions were thrown out.  I heard the judge say you did your notice right you just didn't wait long enough to file.  The judge even stated that the manager gave way to much time and asked why she gave the tenants two full weeks.  The manager stated she wanted to give them plenty of time to move.

The manger was out 24 days plus over $600.00 in court cost.  She will have to reissue the notice and then refile the evictions.  This will cost another $600 dollars plus another delay of 24 days just to get to court probably. 

When you hire someone to do an eviction you need to make sure they know how to evict and what to do.  When I approached the judge at this court I was asked to provide my notice to vacate.  The judge scanned quickly and then asked how I served the resident.  With a smirk on their face and leaning down over their glasses I was told, "You cover all your basis don't you?".  I replied, "I sure do".  I was granted the eviction!

Story 2

I went to file an eviction today and was waiting around until they come back from lunch.  I wanted to be the first in the door.  I person came up to the area while I was pacing back and forth and we began a conversation.  Long story short they owned a lot of properties and hadn't really filed an eviction before.  I told her I do evictions for owners and she asked my fee.  Next thing she said was the same old song and dance.  "That's High!".  People really pay that money?  I said all the time.  The doors opened; we go inside and I start to complete my forms rather quickly.  I noticed she was having some trouble so I offered my assistance.  I noticed the zip on the lease she had and told her she was probably not in the right court.  She goes to the desk and they confirmed it.  Before all this started she complained about having to take off work to file the eviction.  I then told her she had to come back for court which is usually in the morning.  That being said when I was about to leave she asked for my card.  She said now I know why they pay the fee.  She asked for my card and as I was walking out the door I over heard her on the phone telling her husband that she had to find the other court house and did not have a clue where it was.  I nearly told her that's why I carry a GPS, but decided she had had enough for one day.  Moral to this story is filing the proper forms, going to the right court, filing out the eviction forms correctly is not that hard....that is if you really know what you are doing.  Most people make serious mistakes when filing or doing their notice based on false info received online.

Story 3

Owner calls me asking for pricing.  Said way to high.  I called them about three weeks later and they hired me because the resident was now three months behind. The problem is we were three weeks behind from our original conversation.  The court date was delayed big time.  So it took me three weeks just to get a court date, plus the time I had to wait before I could file.  The owner assumed we could get them out in a couple weeks based on reading some other websites.   WRONG!  Before you know it three months had passed and the owner was two months behind on their mortgage.  Foreclosure could have been prevented had I been hired the first day.  However, they delayed it thinking it would go away.  It did go away, but it was their house that went!

Bottom line is it's going to cost you to evict, but it's gonna cost you more in most cases to wish them out.  You will lose rent until they are gone.  Is it worth risking that time and money?  It's better to hire me now so I can get started on your case today. 

Story 4

A friend of mine ask if I could be an expert witness in an eviction case.  I then asked if they were going to do the eviction.  She said no I have hired and attorney.  I said you know we can do the eviction without the attorney.  She said she had already paid him $1500 to start.  I said $1500!  The details are long and not good.  We go to court and it was delayed.  The attorney charged $7000 before the eviction was done.   Oh, and that attorney called me to find out the process and billed her for the time that he talked to me!  To this date he calls me on eviction cases and he is the attorney.