Many times in meeting with new owners we are asked about evictions. Typically we respond with the numbers, indicating that the frequency of evictions with Access usually run under 1% of the entire portfolio. On average we have about 1 eviction for every 200 good tenants. Needless to say, we do not typically entertain the idea of evictions being a major threat to our owners based on sound screening practices upfront. Our first line of defense in retaining earnings is to negotiate for keys before going to court. This usually includes forfeiture of security deposit and a small fee to ensure the home can be cleaned/repaired. A negotiated “eviction” usually results in less than $1,000.00 loss to our owners, with many cases of no loss occurring. A typical eviction that goes to court may cost an owner 2 month’s rent or more plus court/attorney fees of approximately $650.00-1,100.00.
It has come to our attention recently that there are paralegals and law firms who have created an entire industry by making Landlord’s lives difficult through the eviction process, and charging exorbitant fees in the process. These entities would walk a tenant through the process while creating foggy details, legal loopholes and various means to push the eviction beyond 2 months. Just as we begin to see the light and expect to be heard by a judge and regain possession, the tenant throws a sucker punch and requests a jury trial. We are unclear why any judge would allow this as generally an eviction suit is based on the factual breach of the terms of a lease and not subject to the interpretation of the circumstances by members of a jury, but recently we saw it with our own eyes as we prepared for trial. Upon spending days putting together evidence, witness testimonies, jury instructions and maneuvering through the legal process, the landlord decided to negotiate with the tenant for 75% of their losses and regaining possession in 3 weeks via a court ordered mediator. Although not ideal, our owner expects to take minimal losses due to a negotiated payment plan. Regardless, we at Access were appalled by the entire process and began to seek means to snuff out similar issues in the future.
Upon seeking legal advice we amended our lease to read that attorney fees can’t exceed $500.00. This measure is to keep legal fees reasonable and avoid racking up judgments, sometime as much as $18,000.00, from being imposed against our clients. They would be unable to recoup more than $500.00 in legal fees and therefore it is likely the tenant would have to come out of pocket for any cost associated with hiring an attorney over that $500.00 limit.
To conclude, we do not believe this to be an epidemic by any means. Out of 9 years of professional property management this was the first instance of this we have personally been a party to. It was also a new client coming from a different management company, which the tenant attempted to use to “muddy” the waters. We still believe evictions to be a rare instance, and we plan to continue to place our emphasis on numbers we can control such as rents, vacancy and maintenance along with sound screening practices at the outset of the tenancy process. As we continue to grow we plan on implementing other measures to increase the well-being and security of all our owners. We look forward to continued growth, sound management, and a prosperous 2016!
So whether it be your property in Orange County, Riverside County, Greater Inland Empire or San Bernardino trust Access to go above and beyond. Our property managers and employees have their own personal rental investments as well, and work hard to deliver the same level of professional property management they would expect on their homes. Copywrite 2015 Access Asset Management Inc, Lake Elsinore Property Management Central.
