My day started with a trip to municipal court for an eviction. I had a tenant that decided October was his month not to pay and I promptly filed for eviction. Unfortunately, it takes 4-5 weeks in Ohio to get a hearing and today was my day to get rid of this deadbeat and his family. The deadbeat and his deadbeat wife (I don't like deadbeats) arrived at court just in time for the hearing. They didn't have a lawyer, but of course I did.
My lawyer presented our side of the case first, which was basically that we had a lease with the deadbeats and they didn't pay. The magistrate then asked the deadbeats if they had a defense. Their first defense was that I was rude to them when I came to post the 3 day eviction notice (I was - I don't like deadbeats). Their next defense was that there were a variety of things wrong with the house. This was simply perjury. This is one of my nicest houses and is absolutely beautiful! There is absolutely nothing wrong with the house, but what else were the deadbeats going to say to the magistrate? If they told the truth, they would have said that they were lazy losers who don't pay their bills, but you'll never hear that kind of truth in court. They went on and on and on and on. I thought they would never shut up. Finally, the magistrate heard enough and shut them up.
She then explained to them that the only thing that mattered in an eviction hearing was the fact that they didn't pay the rent. Nothing else would be considered. She then ruled in my favor, followed by explaining the set-out procedure to the tenants. Finally, she asked me if I would give them a few days before filing for the setout. I replied ABSOLUTELY NOT! The tenant loudly protested that this wasn't fair (kind of ironic coming from someone who doesn't pay their rent). "We have children", she protested. I remained silent but was thinking that maybe they should have paid the rent if they cared about their children! They also complained that they couldn't find another place to rent because they had this eviction filing on their record. Maybe they should have thought about that also before they decided not to pay the rent. Good riddance to bad rubbish - that's what I say.
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3 comments:
Can I ask if you screened these tenants. If so what service did you use. I noticed there are many online and I'm not sure which one to use.
Thanks!
Geez Mike, there seems to be no end to the audacity people like these have. I'm in agreement with you about the children. They are certainly setting a great example for their kids ... Don't pay rent and make excuses. I fear their kids will turn out the same, unfortunately. I just hope these people didn't get back to the place and decide to take their frustration out on the property. Incredible.
Rentals "r" us,
Yes, I thoroughly screen every tenant. I do the criminal and eviction checks myself; check previous landlords; check references; etc. People simply decide to spend their money on things other than rent (like a new van in this case). That's why they're tenants - they consistently make bad choices. NTN (National Tenant Network) is a good source for credit checks, but nearly every tenant has bad credit.
Steve,
You are right! Their kids will turn out just like them - LOSERS! I also hope they won't damage the house, but there is no reason to worry about it - that's out of my control.
Mike
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