BiggerPockets

I'm learning that tenants get a very fair share of rights in NJ and that evictions can extend many months (the worst I heard of was six).

Has anyone determined the optimal/quickest way to get non paying tenants evicted.

By this I mean:

- up front screening (credit/employ check/crim. bg)
- stronger lease clauses
- security deposits, etc
- tactics
- lawyers

If anyone has devised a process for minimizing eviction time and lost rent I'd like to hear from them.

Thanks

Peter, I have processed literally hundreds of evictions over the years for various employers for non-payment and not once did I encounter a tenant who took advantage of their "miranda" rights?? Like Jeffrey stated if you follow a set procedure you will very rarely lose. I invoke the late fee as of the 5th and if I don't have the $$ by the 8th I process the eviction myself (just paperwork and a fee). It costs $25-$30 but insures a court case to be heard within 30 days. So if you stick to the procedure the most you can lose is the 1 1/2 month security you required tenant to post at lease inception. HOWEVER, your loss can occur when they vacate depending on the condition they leave the apt in.

Aly is correct about the actual fees charged by an attorney. I worked for a real estate attorney for about 10 yrs before REI. The forms are all available however at each County office and are "fill in" forms. If you are kind to the staff they will bend over backwards to provide you with the blanks; in fact some Counties offer them online to print out. Once you have a set and know the procedure for your County, its a piece of cake. Of course, if your ownership entity is an LLC or corporation you MUST employ an attorney or your case shall be dismissed. Partnerships and sole proprietors can represent themselves.

Aly, FYI you can still do the forms yourself and file them. If you choose a law firm that does LOTS of tenancy work they will charge an "appearance" fee of say $140 to appear in Court that morning and that's it. You merely fax a copy to your attorney and "someone" appears that morning. These firms are big and have one attorney in each County every day of the week. Big multi-family landlords do this all the time. If you ever attend a tenancy hearing they usually have a roll call of 100-200 cases a day. It runs just like an assembly line-default, dismissal or mediation. Non-payment is the easiest eviction case - a Judge must rule in favor of the landlord always UNLESS the tenant can prove repairs were not made. EVEN in that event the tenant must POST cash rent with the Court until landlord makes repairs at which time funds are released to landlord and case is dismissed.

Thanks Ingrid. I should go to tenancy court one day to see how it all works. As an objective observer, it could be interesting.