How soon must an tenant leave after receiving an eviction notice?
If an tenant doesn't pay by a certain date, ie: the first of the month, do you proceed with the eviction notice right away?
Is the rental market very soft in your area?
Do you collect a last month rent or a cleaning deposit when you first rent the place out?
What do you rent, apartments or single family homes?
Here in VT a tenant has 30 days after an eviction notice. Sort of.... You can NOT evict anyone betwen November and March. The thinking here is that you can't put anyone out in the cold. Also there is lanlord-tenant mediation that a tenant can drag you through. If they lose in mediation they will take you to court. A real operator can live rent free for 18 months and then leave you with an unusable apartment.
If an tenant doesn't pay by a certain date, ie: the first of the month, do you proceed with the eviction notice right away?
I usually charge a daily late fee ($20 + $5/Day) after a 7 day grace period. After that I usually give them a couple weeks just in case they have problems (cause I'm a nice guy, and don't want to give eviction notices for people a week late). Then I give them a eviction notice telling them to either pay up or move out within the next 2 weeks. This isn't legal since only a magistate can evict. Come 2 weeks, I show up and tell them pay up immediately or get taken to court. If they have a really plausible story, I might give them a few extra days. If not, I get their info together and take it to the magistrate. The magistrate clerk charges me $50-$75 and sets up a hearing 10 days later. She gets the tenants served with notice. Then if the tenant has dodged the process server, then they will reschedule it in another 10 days. At the hearing, the tenant will show up or not. If he does, he will tell all kind of horrible lies about you, saying that everyhing is your fault, that you made all kinds of verbal commitments and that nothing was their fault. They tell the magistrate that if they can have just another month or two, they can get caught up and pay in full. The magistrate will calmly ask you if this is acceptable to you? You know it is BS and say absolutely not. Then the magistrate will tell the tenant that they must move. He will ask them when they can be out by. They give him some kind of sob story. He may give them as long as he wants. The most I've got has been a month. At that date, they are either gone or not. If not, its back to the magistates office where the magistrate will file an order with the Sheriff. Once the sheriff receives the order, he will wait 10 days and then send a deputy to move them out.
At the magistrate hearing, the magistrate will also award you damages if you can prove that you deserve them. You can get awarded damages for back rent and fees. This is why I charge $5/day. You cannot get damages if they have destroyed your place. For that you need to file a separate action and have another hearing. If they don't pay what the court tells them to, you can garnish their wages (if you can find them and they have a job), put a hold on their checking account (if you can find them and you know their checking account number and they haven't closed the account), or attach their personal property (if you can find them and they are dumb enough to leave their personal property there for 90 days). All cost a fee and give very little hope of getting any $$ back. They do blemish their credit for 10 years though.
Of course this doesn't take into account the occasional tenant who is a good liar. They can string you out for a little while with a story about a big check that they will be receiving from the IRS, the insurance co, the financial aid office or whoever. I used to believe some of these stories if the person sounded sincere, but no more. Also, right before going in to the magistrate, they will often offer to pay you in full with a check if you withdraw the complaint. You can just see their faces drop when you smile at them and say, "Sure, but it has to be a money order."
Is the rental market very soft in your area?
I think so. For the last couple of years anyway.
Do you collect a last month rent or a cleaning deposit when you first rent the place out?
Yes, a security deposit. If they stay for the full year of their lease, they usually don't pay their last month or 2 of rent though. They know they'll be out before they can be evicted. Then they leave the place trashed. You can threaten legal action, but they have to care.
What do you rent, apartments or single family homes?
Apartments. Typically to college students, but I haven't had any better luck with town folk or HUDies.