If you own rental property, you should expect to have problematic tenants on occasion. Developing an effective tenant-screening procedure can help you choose quality tenants, but you might still face a bad one now and then. If you do, you may need to evict the tenant. As a landlord, you have the right to evict tenants, but you must follow the legal process and abide by all the rules. It is often easier to hire an evictions lawyer to assist with this process.

Reasons to Hire an Evictions Lawyer

Every landlord needs an evictions lawyer, especially landlords that do not own a lot of properties. If you own a large property management firm, you may not need one if you have a person on staff who handles all your eviction cases. You could still benefit from having one, though. Here are the reasons you should have one:

  1. Evictions take time, and you might not have the time needed to complete them.
  2. You must follow landlord-tenant laws to prevent legal problems, and knowing all these laws is not an easy task.
  3. You will encounter evictions, so you should prepare for these events.

There are many other reasons to hire an evictions lawyer, too, but these are the top three.

The Importance of Following Landlord-Tenant Laws

One of the top benefits you receive from hiring an evictions lawyer is access to an expert in landlord-tenant law. You might not realize that failing to follow these laws can result in legal issues. If you do one thing wrong in the evictions process, the tenant could sue you. If you want to avoid issues like this, hire a lawyer to handle your evictions.

How the Evictions Process Works

You cannot ask a tenant to leave and then lock them out if they do not comply. Instead, you must follow a strict procedure to evict the person from the unit they rent from you. The process begins by filing an eviction's form at the court. The court will set up a date for a hearing, and you or your lawyer must attend. The court then decides how to proceed from there. The person does not have to vacate the rental property until the judge tells them to leave.

While you might get lucky and never have a bad tenant, there is a high risk you will have one at some point. If you want to prepare for this event, contact an evictions lawyer like George Karavias, Esq. today.

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