Pasas Property Management Update-how to deal with evictions

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Pasas Property Management Update-how to deal with evictions

Pasas Property Management is a locally owned property management firm with over 20 years of experience in the San Diego, CA marketplace.  Below is a reprinted article from PropertyManager.com on how to deal with evictions.

While careful applicant screenings can help in reducing the number of evictions necessary, every property manager will eventually find themselves in a position to evict a resident.

But are there alternatives to eviction?

That depends on exactly why the resident is being threatened with eviction.  Issues such as criminal behavior are not negotiable, but what about your reliable resident; the one who has always paid their rent on time and has recently run into financial trouble?  It might be worth the effort to work together to find an alternative to eviction that is beneficial to both parties.  Here are some alternatives you may want to explore before filing paperwork in court:

  • Reach a New Agreement:  If your resident has violated their lease agreement, consider a written warning.   Similar to an employment warning, this document states the nature of the infraction and the consequences of that behavior happening again – in this case eviction.  While this option depends on the nature of the lease violation and frequency of occurrence, for residents will no previous infractions, this may be a good option.
  • Make Payment Arrangements – Again, this is dependent on past resident behavior, but if a reliable resident who typically pays their rent on time is suddenly late with the rent, it’s likely that they’re dealing with financial issues.  If their disposable income has dropped temporarily, but they are likely to rebound, consider making arrangements for them to pay past due rent along with their current rent once their income has rebounded.  Obviously, if your resident has no accessible income, this option won’t work, but for historically reliable residents who fall on temporary bad times, it’s worth trying to save the relationship.
  • Put them to work – If your resident has a record of responsibly paying their rent, and is simply low on funds, you may want to consider putting them to work in your office.  While this will not work for smaller offices with limited staff, property managers have been known to hire residents for cleaning, property maintenance, or leasing. Again, this may not be an option at your property, but for some locations, it works.
  • Don’t renew the lease – if the lease of a problem resident is coming up for renewal, simply don’t renew it.  This allows you to terminate the agreement without incurring the time and cost that eviction requires.

While circumstances will likely dictate whether eviction is the correct option, it’s always helpful to realize that sometimes there are worthwhile alternatives.

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