Late Rent and Eviction Advice From a Portland Property Manager

A lot of questions we get revolve around evictions and ,unfortunately, eviction is probably the worst case scenario for most rental property owners. An eviction is when you ask a tenant to move and the tenant doesn’t move, so you end up in court. There is often a hearing that leads to a judgment. In Portland, Oregon and surrounding areas, a typical eviction is for non-payment of rent. If you have tenants who have not paid, your first step is to issue a 3 Day Notice which gives your tenants three days to pay the rent or leave the property. We usually begin eviction proceedings on the 15th or 16th of the month if rent is not paid and the 3 Day Notice is ignored.

In Multnomah and Washington Counties, the filing of an eviction is pretty informal. The first stage of the eviction is called a First Appearance, and at that point the judge will ask the parties to try and work it out. This could happen right there in the hallway. We often know what to expect; if a tenant convinces us the late rent is a one-time thing and due to a car breaking down or other sudden financial mishap, we can work on making a payment arrangement to save the tenancy. Other times, it’s not that simple. If the tenant does not work with us, we continue moving towards an eviction trial. If necessary, we can get the sheriff to come and physically remove the tenants and change the locks.

Lots of people do look to us for eviction expertise. Sometimes it’s the first thing we do for a client. If an owner comes to us with a terrible situation, we have to step in and take care of the problem. A recent success story of ours comes from a property we recently took on. The owner called, very distressed because she had bought a home to use as a rental and had been managing it herself. She found the tenants on her own and did not do much screening. They moved in and paid for the deposit and the first month’s rent with a personal check, which bounced. Once you give possession to the tenant, you can feel trapped. We took over and served the tenant with the required notices. They appeared in court and we worked out a situation where they would be out of the house within 10 days, which means they had only been in the property for about a month and a half. We have a great collection company we work with, and it looks like we will get a majority of the owner’s funds returned. We also rented the property to tenants who met our criteria.

Part of what Fox Management has to offer is expertise with First Appearances and the ability to resolve eviction issues. We also know when to get an attorney involved, and we partner with some great lawyers when the situation becomes complicated and requires legal involvement. If you have any questions about how we handle evictions or you need help with your own property, please contact us at Fox Management.