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[quote=Anonymous]Fairfax County is pretty friendly toward landlords. but there is still a process that must be followed to the letter. The steps I would recommend for rent payment evictions are:

1) Submit a Five Day Pay or Quit Notice to the Sheriff's Office and have them deliver it. They will mail you proof of service, which holds up in court. This process takes about 7 to 10 days (mail to them, they serve it, then they send you proof they did). And double check the results to make sure they don't return a "Not found" result. RocketLawyer.com helped me make my notice.

2) As soon as five days pass, go to the Fairfax County Courthouse and file a Summons for an Unlawful Detainer. The clerks there can't give you legal advice, but they are very helpful guiding you through the forms. Bring the 5-Day notice. And make sure you also fill out a Servicemember's affidavit while you're there. You'll need that for a default judgement. The clerks will assign a hearing date. Mail the Summons for Unlawful Detainer to your tenant via first class mail; there is a place on the form to swear you have done so. Mail it the day you file it so you don't forget. My hearing date was 30 days from my filing date

3) DO NOT COLLECT ANY RENT FROM THE TENANT, AT LEAST NOT WITHOUT PROVISIONAL PAPERWORK THAT LETS YOU CONTINUE THE EVICTION. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL NEED TO START AGAIN AT STEP 1. I DIDN'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE, BUT WHILE WAITING FOR MY CASE SAW LANDLORDS HAVE THEIR CASES' DISMISSED BECAUSE THEY DID. JUST KEEP THINGS SIMPLE AND DON'T COLLECT ANY $$$.

4) Follow the instructions in the packet the clerks will give you. Seriously, read it through! And make sure you file a separate notarized affidavit summarizing your claims BEFORE the court date along with pertinant accounting information. And make sure you have enough copies. The clerks can tell you how many you need.

5) Go to the hearing. When you get a judgement, file a "Writ of Possession" with the Clerk's Office. That will instruct the Sheriff's department to schedule an eviction. It will need to be within 30 days, but these days they shoot for 15. And if the tenant is a no-show at the hearing, move for "Immediate Possession". You can then walk to the clerk's office down the haul and file the writ immediately. Just make sure you bring bank checks to the courthouse on your hearing date.

All in all, the process can take 75 days without making any mistakes, so its important that if you believe your tenant is behaving in bad faith or simply can't afford to pay rent that you get started early. Don't let them control the timeline with excuses. Believe me, they will say their car broke down, their family got sick, they got sick, one of their family members died and they had to help with final expenses, that they will be getting money soon, etc... They want you to feel crumby about doing anything to them. Get the paperwork going, and if they come up with all the rent by the court date, then great! Cases are financially cheap to file, and can be dismissed very easily.

If you think this process takes a lot man hours, it does. I'd recommend using RocketLawyer.com if you have questions; for $40 a month, you can ask questions to real lawyers. Probably made the difference in me winning my case. Or if you won't want to spend the time, hire a lawyer. But don't wait and let a bad situation get worse. Trust your gut, and get started early.[/quote]

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