aroundthehorn

Has anybody dealt with evicting a tenant and/or reporting a worthless check?

Some of the juicier bits:
I have a real piece of work on my hands. Serial lying, possible prescription drug problem, failure to appear in court for previous offense, driver's license suspended, apparently unemployed, etc. Lied about pets and number of people who would be living there.

Missed part of this month's rent with a bunch of made up excuses. Wrote a bad check for the remainder; took her over a week to make it good. Security deposit check, which is now way too late, has also bounced. Owner of a local store came by with another worthless check and is possibly going to have a warrant issued tomorrow; he has gotten the same lies and runaround.

After we confronted the person, s/he agreed to move out by the end of the month. I am going to have to get something in writing, obviously, especially since their isn't an ounce of integrity or honesty in this person's body. Any advice from landlords out there? Not sure what to do about the worthless check. TIA and peace.

fisheye48

I would contact the SO and see if they could help in any way

jplvr

http://rhol.org/csu/evictions/Florida/FloridaSteps.htm

We have to give a two week notice as I recently discovered trying to evict a lawyer from our office building. If this is residential, it looks like you get off easier.

I only found out about our two week notice after learning said lawyer won a settlement stemming from an improper eviction. We gave him a one week notice, and he kept stalling. I learned about the two week notice later, we served it to him, and he's now current on rent.

I'm just assuming my quick Google search produced the correct rules of eviction for Florida. Someone here probably knows for sure. You might not have as much trouble evicting this tenant, but I'd make sure I knew for sure what the correct rules are, and if she's supposed to be out by the end of the month, I'd have her sign that 3 day notice on either April 24th or April 30th. If she doesn't comply then, you'll be able to proceed more quickly if you have to start filing with the court.

Capt. Jon Pinney

Evictions are the biggest pain in the butt for the landlord. Tenants have way more rights than the landlord. The eviction is not final until you file in court and the court orders the sheriffs office to serve a lawful eviction. As far as the worthless check, contact the state attorneys office and they will file the charges.

Orion45

Go to the Clerk of Court. He/she has all the necessary forms that you have to deliver to the tenant before you proceed with eviction procedures. The forms are Three Day Notice, Seven Day Notice (with cure), Seven Day Notice (without cure), and Fifteen Day Notice. You'll need one of these to start the ball rolling.

There are four different types of notices given to teneants for evictions. Each one is very specific in what it requires. You must give the tenant one of these notices by either hand delivery or posting the notice to the tenants door. After the required time has passed, bring in the required filing fees, along with five copies of one of the notices above, together with a stamped envelope addressed to the tenant. If there is a written lease agreement, bring five copies of it along with the notice and envelope to start the eviction procedure.

When the eviction complaint is filed, the clerk will issue a five days summons and send it to the Sherriff for service on the tenant. The tenant has five working days to file a written response to the summons with the Court or to vacate. If a written response is made, a hearing will be set before the judge assigned to the case and hearing notices will be sent to each party. If no response is made, the landlord make come back to the Clrk's office, sign a default, and pay another fee to the Sheriff. After the judge signs the Judgment for Possession, a Writ of Possession will be issued to the Clerk's office. The Sheriff's Department will serve the tenent with a 24 hour notice to vacate. If the tenant does not vacate the premises, the Sheriff will then proceed to evict the tenant.

The fees used to be $81.50 filing fee, $20 fee to the Sheriff's Office, and another $50 to the Sheriff's Office for eviction...that was several years ago.

Call the Escambia County Clerck of Court at (850) 595-4170

It's not easy to get rid of renters. Good Luck.

aroundthehorn

Thanks a bunch. This is one of the reasons I love this forum.

My sincere hope is that this is resolved peacefully and painlessly. We have had good luck with our tenants before, just this one bad apple. The policy for renting as far as lease, etc. will completely change because of this. I'm also handling all of this myself from now on.

S/he has had several bench warrants issued for an ongoing case. I think the store owner is going to proceed pretty quickly on his end, too.

Having said all of that, I'm dreading this entire process.

scupper

''took her over a week to make it good''

Take it out in trade

JD7.62

This is the obvious solution.

aroundthehorn

Ew....

chaps

Don't delay!!!! I hired Tim Baldwin in Pensacola to do my eviction when I lived out of state. The process starts with a three day notice. Every day you delay the process is another day the tenant will living for free.

One more thing, I always get first month, last month and security deposit upfront. I also do a criminal background check through clerk of courts as well as back ground check. You have to protect yourself.