EVICTIONS TAKING TOO LONG?

Here at Heist, Weisse & Davis, we pride ourselves in getting almost all our cases to the courthouse within 24 hours of receipt of everything we need to file your case. With 20 secretaries and 4 attorneys, we can handle just about any volume. If we receive a good Three Day Notice and Lease, we usually have the case out the door and on the way to the courthouse by the end of the day. Unlike us, the various Clerk of Court offices in Florida have been hit with budget cuts, layoffs, hiring freezes and an avalanche of foreclosures like no other time in history. The result? Delays out of the attorney’s control. Whether you use us or another law firm, these delays are inevitable, so keep this in mind when a case seems to bog down. Most likely the delay once the case is filed is out of your attorney’s control.

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THE RESIDENT IN THE MILITARY AND EVICTIONS

Sandy, one of your residents, has just been ordered to Afghanistan.  Sandy is a nurse who has been called to active duty by the Marines. Sandy has not paid the rent for this month. You want to follow up regarding payment with the resident, but you are unable to find out where she is stationed. After some good detective work you locate her mother, who is the emergency contact. She tells you that it is against the law to evict Sandy. She makes a threat that you will be thrown in jail if you try to evict. What is she talking about? Can Sandy stay in the apartment forever?
 

Click here to learn how to deal with residents in the military.

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SECURITY DEPOSIT DEDUCTIONS

It is time for the security deposit disposition.  Even the perfect resident, who leaves with his account paid at the end of the lease, in many cases will have follow-up charges for utilities.  The less than perfect resident will owe for cleaning charges and maybe even performed an unauthorized alteration, such as wall shelving.  The problem resident will continue to be a problem to the end, with the last month’s rent unpaid, extensive damage or theft, and a hefty cleaning and trash-out bill.  The resident who skips out or who is evicted may additionally owe court costs, attorney’s fees and rent for the balance of the lease.  What can be deducted from the security deposit?

Click here  to see what can be deducted for the deposit .

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THE FINAL QUICK CHECK BEFORE THE RESIDENT MOVES IN

Your building was just treated by pest control last week. You have a resident moving in on Monday. Monday comes, the resident is given the keys and opens the door only to find 2 dead and 1 partially dead Palmetto bugs, a/k/a HUGE ROACHES. Mortified and distraught, the resident refuses to move in and wants their funds returned. Are they legally entitled to break the lease? Why find out in court. Avoid the problem. Always schedule maintenance to do a quick unit check the morning of any move in.
 

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DOCUMENTING MOVE IN AND MOVE OUT CONDITIONS – NEW PRODUCT ALERT

Nothing helps the landlord in security deposit disputes more than plenty of good photos of the unit condition upon move-in and move-out. A new service has become available which makes it quick and easy to perform and document these inspections so you can reduce disputes, possibly eliminate them altogether, and most importantly avoid litigation. Usually the only winners in a security deposit dispute are the attorneys involved, so when you avoid a dispute, you are the winner!

Click here to check out WalkThruInspections.com.

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BACK TO BASICS SERIES – THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Besides advertising the property and responding to inquiries, it pretty much all begins here. The application process. You are going to get “married” to your resident, so you really need to know who you are dealing with. How the “dating” process works out will determine in many respects whether the ”marriage” will last. Are you missing some steps in the process? Do you have procedures and checklists that you always follow, or are you cutting corners?

Click here  for some Application Process Basics.

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PROPERLY USING YOUR SCANNER

OK, you bought a scanner and now scan and email us your evictions. The problem is your scanner is set by factory default to send high resolution, color, 2 sided scans, resulting in massive files being created, even when you send basic 1 sided black and white documents. Huge files can get Spammed out, blocked and even crash email systems.  Check out the menu and try to fix this ASAP.  It is an easy adjustment and will help the recipients of your emails!
 

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COMMERCIAL LAW AND YOU – ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS FACING COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGERS DURING TROUBLED ECONOMIC TIMES PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS BY TENANT

Many tenants are in trouble. Deep trouble. They owe $5000 plus late fees and simply don’t have the full amount. They tender and you accept $4500. Are they in default? Can an eviction be filed? Possibly a waiver has occurred which could preclude you from taking action, and now you are sorry you accepted the payment. But hey, your mortgage had to be paid. Is it prudent to refuse a partial tender in the commercial setting?

Click here for info on how to deal with the partial payment and payment arrangements by attorney Kevin Jursinski.

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