Reply to Evicting a Tenant in DC

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[quote=Anonymous]Do you have a lawyer? If not, get one. The best way to do this is to go to the Landlord-Tenant court and see which lawyer are there so much that they have their own assigned rooms to meet with clients and opposing parties.

If you don't have a lawyer and you did something wrong in serving the notice to quit or anything else, the case could get dismissed at the hearing and you'd have to start all over. Or if you do something that's considered wrongful/constructive eviction, or if there are housing code violations, you could end up owing money or not being able to evict. So it's worth getting a lawyer.

If you do get a writ, only the US Marshals can evict (you need to hire a crew to take the tenant's stuff to the curb and change the locks). Evictions don't happen when it's too cold or rainy or certain other reasons and the Marshals only schedule in one quadrant a day. So expect to wait a while even if you win in court.

Know that if the suit is only about nonpayment, the tenant can pay up until the time the marshals conclude the eviction (even if most of the stuff has been removed...the crew you hired would have to move everything back in). If there are other reasons for the eviction, or if the tenant enters into a payment plan and doesn't follow it, it might be possible to get a non-redeemable judgement that wouldn't go away if the back rent is paid.

Finally, even if you evict you probably will never see the money. Talk to your lawyer about liens, small claims court, reporting to credit bureaus, etc. but you are probably not going to see that money. Once you talk with a lawyer about all of this, you can figure out if you want to offer cash for keys or another negotiation to get the tenant to leave sooner. But follow the lawyer's advice on that. [/quote]

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