Oops. A Landlord messed up in court
A client that I worked with once had me do part of the eviction process. Everything was going well. There was court date, though, since the tenants were contesting the eviction. The landlord that I was working with decided to go to court. Well, during the court hearing, the tenants became quite emotional and that they promised to pay the landlord the rent that was owed. So, it’s very natural for most people to give someone a second chance, especially when the tenats were being so emotional. The landlord decided to let the tenant stay.
So, the tenat wasn’t evicted and they promised to pay the landlord. And everything was happily ever after. Except, the tenant only paid part of the rent that was owed and they never paid the balance. The next month, the didn’t pay rent again. After that, the landlord contacted me to file another 5 Day Notice to Pay or Quit and fortunately, this time the tenat moved out without going to court.
What’s the lesson here? It’s very hard to resist being compassionate It’s so hard! But, in the end, in my experience, tenants who are late with rent hardly ever pay the full amount that they owe and they often do not pay the next month. It’s better for business to complete the eviction process the first time rather than spending extra time and extra money to do it the second time.
It did turn out to be a happy ending, though. The old tenant moved out and the new tenant moved in. It just took a little extra money and extra stress! And, a good lesson was learned.
