Renting your property is very easy when your tenant pays rent on time. What happens when they don’t? Here are some steps to take in San Diego when your tenant stops paying rent.
Communicate with Your Tenant
First, reach out to your tenant. Make a phone call, send a text or an email, or stop by the property in person. Hear their side of the story, and find out when they plan to pay. You need to know if this will be a one-time thing or a regular occurrence. If they give you a date, make them stick to it. Don’t give them anymore leniency.
If your tenant misses the payment deadline, serve a Three Day Notice to Pay or Quit. This is the first step in the eviction process. You need to fill out the paperwork completely, or the eviction judge may throw out the entire case, and you’ll have to start over. Even a small typo or missed phone number or signature will cause problems.
How to Evict a Tenant
You’ll need to move forward with tenant eviction if your tenant stops paying rent entirely. File court paperwork to take the next step towards eviction. According to Tverdov Housing, the easiest way to do that is to hire an eviction company. For a few hundred dollars, they will take care of all the paperwork and coordinate with the sheriff and get you a court date.
Once you get a court date, you go to court. You can represent yourself or hire an attorney. The judge will listen to both sides and likely rule in your favor. The judge will give an eviction date that’s usually about two weeks after the hearing. On that date, you will meet the sheriff and a locksmith at your property. The sheriff will make sure it’s empty and allow you to change the locks and gain possession.
Avoiding the San Diego Eviction Process
Ideally, you can mitigate all this by properly screening your tenant and keeping all lines of communication open. Evicting a tenant is not good for anyone. You’ll lose money and face court costs.
If you have any questions regarding your current tenant or an eviction, please contact us at Priority One Real Estate. We can help you with professional San Diego property management.