What About That Timeline We Discussed? Was I Conning You? Expectations Versus Reality

March 9, 2016 · Coauthored by Joe Cloer & Susan Cook

I get emails and calls from clients who are completely freaked out about all sorts of things. I constantly remind myself that property owners and landlords do not deal with this all the time. Most people do not have my worldview. Many clients get really tired at the end of the process and say, “Your timeline says 6–8 weeks, and it has been much longer! My (friend, property manager, tenant, spouse) says they know a guy who got his tenant out in a few weeks.” Many landlords do not understand that each case I have has its own individual set of circumstances, and many times our cases end in a matter of days. A very few of our cases, because of extenuating circumstances, have taken six months to resolve because of appeals that no one could prevent.

I do not cut corners, and I do follow the letter and spirit of the law. Following Georgia law puts the process on a variable timetable. That being said, let me share my thoughts on the number-one issue my clients get upset about — the eviction timeline. If things go well, the timeline I provide really is the average time to get a judgment and to include the average seven-day move-out period that the evicted tenant gets from the judge. If things go well. Now let me tell you what can happen that makes the process not go well — that is, stretch the timeline beyond average:

• The sheriff’s civil division has a backlog and cannot serve the tenant in the normal 7–10 days after we file the dispossessory.
• The information we receive for the dispossessory is incomplete or simply inaccurate. We do all we can to confirm the accuracy of the tenant address, name, and amounts owed, but ultimately the property owner is responsible for providing this information. If anything is wrong with that information, particularly address information, the dispossessory will be returned to the court once the sheriff’s delivery fails, and then it is held up until corrections are made. This issue can cause weeks of delay.
• The tenant turns out to be a professional con. Tenants who fail to pay frequently con landlords over and over. They get around a background check, lie about intending to pay for a long while, and then start using the legal system to remain in the home despite the dispossessory action. There is an actual company online that advertises that it can stop or hold up evictions for sixty days. Really.

Moreover, tenants regularly do these types of things: sneak money into a landlord’s bank account, stopping the legal process (guys, if you take the money, the process is over); con the landlord into taking a partial payment; claim they never got the court notice and make the court reschedule; appeal or claim poverty (no, they don’t have to prove anything to hold things up while the court reviews the claims); or trick the landlord into verbal agreements after we have filed.

• The court calendar can be full and delay the case by an entire week or longer.
• The client can hesitate on purchasing a Writ of Possession or try to circumvent getting one to speed up the process. Doing this can get the landlord into serious trouble and drags the process out considerably.
• The sheriff’s civil division can experience a backlog of physical set-outs that can delay a set-out by three or four weeks.
• Physical set-outs will be cancelled by the sheriff if it is raining.
• Holidays. Holidays are fantastic unless you are trying to evict someone during or near those holidays. Expect delays.

These bullet points do not constitute a complete list of road blocks. However, this small list shows areas in the process that hold potential for delay: government-agency timeframes, landlord mistakes, and tenants’ ability to use the legal process to their benefit. Occasionally, we experience the sad trifecta where all three areas hit in one case.

Again, I do not cut corners anywhere in the dispossessory process. I inform my clients with emails and video instruction about each phase and hope that this information keeps the process clearly outlined. Ultimately, though, everyone in the eviction process is at the mercy of the government. I, the agent, am subject to the law. Our lawyers are subject to the law. Our landlords are subject to the law. The tenants are subject to the law. This is a government process that follows rules of law. Please investigate landlord–tenant law to help set your own expectations of the process.

Setting expectations to all the possibilities can be downright discouraging. The law does not pick sides, and sometimes it feels like it is taking forever and the tenant is getting all the breaks. In the end, the law will land on the side of the landlord, if that landlord follows the process. And the process is not simple nor is it swift, but it is sure. Stay the course. And as always, keep it legal.