Evictions in Landlord-Tenant Law

Why is your eviction process taking so long? One of the main questions landlords ask me is why it “takes so long” to execute an eviction.  Many times, there are factors out your control, such as where your case falls on the court’s calendar. However, there are several things the landlord can do to ensure the process moves as quickly as possible. Here are the top three mistakes I often come across:

1.    Your lease gives the tenant extra time.

When a tenant fails to pay rent in a timely fashion, this is a breach of the lease agreement.  Under Alabama law, the landlord is only required to give the tenant a minimum of 7 days to submit rent in full before the landlord can terminate the lease. However, if your lease provides the tenant with more than 7 days, then that is what the court will follow. Therefore, if you are giving your tenant, for example, 30 days to remit payment in full to you after you issue a notice to terminate, you’re essentially adding an extra three weeks to the process!

2.    You didn’t give the tenant proper notice.

 Many landlords, especially small business owners, like to draft their own documents. The belief is that they are saving time and money by doing this themselves rather than hiring a lawyer. This practice is certainly understandable, however the law is clear on how you deliver notice of a breach to a tenant and what language such notices must contain. Often, deficiencies in notices are not brought to the landlord’s attention until the initial court hearing. This can result in the case being dismissed or reset to allow the landlord more time to “try again”.  So rather than saving time or money, you are providing your tenant with more time on the premises.

3.    You don’t stay on top of the process.

So, you sent your tenant the notice to cure the breach or vacate. What is next? Did you immediately proceed with the unlawful detainer once the time allowed by the notice lapsed? Maybe you forgot or you were busy and it took you a couple of weeks to get by the courthouse. Often, landlords believe that things are just dragging along because “the system” is not working; however, they don’t realize that they can add days or weeks to the process by not following up on deadlines promptly. Not to belabor the point, but this is where a lawyer comes in handy. While you are working and managing all of the many facets of your busy life, a trained lawyer is filing the necessary paperwork for you as soon as the law allows!

Again, there are many other possible reasons your eviction process could feel like it is taking forever, however these are just a few things to keep in mind. Please feel free to check back for more helpful tips soon!