I have lawyers here who say they do flat fee evictions for $750, but that is pretty steep considering our lot rents, then when I ask an hourly attorney, they never know, or can say, what typical costs are for an eviction.
Any ideas?
All depends on the state, $750 almost doesn’t cover all the various court filings costs in one state we operate (3 evictions in the last 3 years averaged about $2500 each)
$750 seems reasonable. We probably pay roughly $500 to $700 for a 1 hearing eviction and maybe more if we go to a second damages hearing.
You can do it for under $200 in many places if you do it yourself.
First, it depends on how the property is titled: Individual vs llc (or other) In Ohio, you can only file yourself if you own the property in your name. (filing yourself avoids the attorney fees) I have worked out a flat fee with our attorney.
Every jurisdiction is different, but you should be able to find out what the sunk costs are from the court’s website. You can hit $200 just in court fees alone (sunk costs). Also, don’t forget about the costs of the ‘set out’ if the bailiff actually has to come out.
In Indiana I do my own. They are around $125-$150 at the courthouse. That includes sheriff’s service.
That and some paperwork and a certified letter and incidentals is all it costs. Plus my time of course.
Thanks, everyone.
In my state, the law does not allow the individual to represent his own LLC. Ridiculous, but true, and I cant think of any creative loopholes to get around this.
I’m preparing for a park home pilot project in our new mountain community of factory-built homes. We sell larger homes and lots together in the first completed section of the community, but I’m considering the idea of leasing smaller park home lots using the typical MHC / RV park biz model in a different section.
The topic of evictions came up - wondering how these are handled when leasing the land to someone who buys/installs a small park home on a lot.
Same process as a normal rental home eviction? What usually happens to the home if they are evicted from the land? I assume the terms for the process are included in the lot lease agreement?
That’s a great tip, especially for anyone in Indiana!
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Real Estate Attorney here! A $750 flat fee for an attorney to handle an eviction is a steal! Most attorneys have an hourly rate between $280-400 and eviction actions are time-consuming. If you paid hourly, the legal fees would be in the thousands.
You can certainly do it yourself for less assuming you have the spare time and knowledge of the legal process!
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The average cost of an eviction can vary depending on location, the complexity of the case, and the attorney’s fees. Flat fees like the $750 you mentioned are common for straightforward evictions, but they can seem high if you’re dealing with lower lot rents. Hourly rates for attorneys typically range from $150 to $300 per hour, but without a clear understanding of how many hours the process might take, it’s hard to estimate the total cost. Generally, for a simple eviction, you might expect the cost to fall between $500 and $1,500, including court fees and attorney charges, but it’s always best to get a clear estimate upfront, especially if the process is likely to involve complications.
If one is evicting a problem resident, would you give them back their deposit say of $500.
Just had a difficult situation with a tenant cussing out management in front of other residents in our rec hall and refusing to leave rec hall. Sort of scary behavior.
I am out here in CRAZYFORNIA.
Our minimum eviction cost is $2500. Our most expensive eviction over the past five years was just under $20,000.00
It takes AT LEAST 6 months to get someone out and up to 8 months.
We have found offering Cash for Keys/title is a great option. We are also entering into numerous Stipulated Settlement Agreements. It’s faster for us to offer someone 30-60 days of free rent than it is to go through the court process.
Here is our basic timeline:
On January 1st, the Tenant fails to pay.
We have to wait until about the 14th of January to serve a 3 and 60.
March 14th (60 days later). We file the Unlawful Detainer action.
It takes approximately 2 weeks for this to be processed. Then we serve the resident with the UD action. April 1st.
They have 30 days to respond. May 1st.
After they respond, we apply for a court date. This process can take an additional 30-60 days. July 1st.
We go to court; we win 99% of the time. Now that we have a judgment, we need to proceed with the writ of execution or lockout. It can take an additional 30-45 days to obtain a lockout date. August 15th.
A total of 8 months. OUCH!!!
Often, the Tenants will apply for TAXPAYER-FUNDED FREE legal aid. If they do this, they will usually settle, as the Attorney knows we will prevail in court. However, sometimes they will hire an attorney. If this happens, then they will request a trial by Jury. This can cost upwards of $50,000. If we lose, then we also have to pay the Defendant’s attorney’s fees.
One of my clients went through this process and was facing $100,00 in legal bills. He decided to drop the case and let the tenant stay. He ended up having to pay her $7500 to settle the case. OUCH.
One of the BIG GOTCHA out here is the masking of evictions.
AB-2819 Unlawful detainer proceedings.
SEC. 2.
It is the intent of the Legislature to amend existing statutes regarding open access to public records by making permanently unavailable to the public civil case records in unlawful detainer proceedings in which the plaintiff does not prevail within 60 days of filing instead of unlawful detainer proceedings in which the defendant prevails within 60 days of filing.
Ouch! Why do you own parks in CA?! Lol. We are in landlord friendly states (leaning red) for that reason.
You nailed it. OUCH indeed.
The funny thing about CA is the laws are pretty crazy but so is the cost of living. So rents are high and only going higher.
For instance, Minimum wage is about $16.50/hour.
$16.50x40x52=$34,320 or $2,860/mo
We require you to make 3 times the rent to live in one of our parks. $2860/3= $953.
So pretty much anybody who wants to work full time can afford to pay rents of $953.
If you work at McDonalds you’d get $20.00/hr Minimum.
Doing business here is rough. I have a philosophy with CA. Don’t fight 'em, find the inefficiency caused by the Crazy Policies and use them to make money. I am on the hunt for Parks in High Demand areas with rents under $1,000.00. I can easily raise them to $1,000/month and pretty much ANYBODY who works can afford to live there.
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