Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Order in the Court!
0 Playsin 14 hours
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we’re covering what the process looks like for anyone who has to go through a court procedure regarding their investment property.
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
Hit subscribe and comment down below to join the conversation! 💛
✨ Stay connected with us!
Instagram: @mckennapropertymanagement
Facebook: McKenna Property Management
TikTok: @TheMcKennaTeam
Website: McKennaPropertyManagement.com
Phone: 702-434-HOME (4663)
Owner/Broker: Jenni McKenna B.29819
#ThoughtsForRent #McKennaTeam #LasVegasRealEstate #JenniMcKenna #PropertyManagement #MarketTrends #PropertyTips #Community
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Court Procedures
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Hi everyone. Welcome back to Thoughts for Rent. Realtors keeping it real. As always, i am Ireland and with me is Jenny McKenna. Hello everyone. And today, although we are not going to be talking about something super, super glamorous, we are going to be talking about something that we think every investor or landlord or property manager should know.
00:00:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
And what is that Ireland? My favorite topic. Court. Court. Bump, bump, bump. Yes. And why do we go to court, Ireland? Mainly for non-payment of rent, but there are other things that you can go to court for, so that is something that we are going to talk about today in our conversation.
00:01:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
But the main one that you're going to see consistently is going to be because of non-payment of rent.
Understanding Small Claims and Eviction Courts
00:01:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
And let's fully disclose, Ireland and I are not attorneys. We do not claim to be attorneys. But what's really cool is when you go to small claims court, it's called the people's court.
00:01:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
So you don't need necessarily attorneys to do the things that we do. And I've been doing it for quite a while now. And I'm not going to brag too much, but I do feel like I know the ins and outs of eviction court.
00:01:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yes. So let's start with why court procedures procedures matter. So what what is the deal with Southern Nevada in general as far as what are we trying to accomplish when we go to court?
00:01:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, so for the non-payment of rent or I guess for any specific serving, it really is just we do not want that resident to be in that property anymore. And we need to make sure that we follow the law.
00:01:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
because it's not as simple as just showing up and kicking them out, because that shouldn't happen. i think no matter what, there should always be a process when it comes to things of this nature. Absolutely, but so many times, Ireland, landlords will go over to the property and lock them out, like change the locks, and that is absolutely against the law.
Jurisdiction Complexities in Southern Nevada
00:02:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
I have been in court many times where the ah it would the the resident is there saying to the judge, your honor, all of my belongings are inside the property and the landlord locked me out and the judge every single time will rule in favor of that resident, whether he paid the rent or didn't pay the rent or whatever was going on because the process wasn't done correctly.
00:02:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
And what we always want to accomplish, at least with what we do in property management, is we want the judge to give us a summary of eviction. whether that be Las Vegas justice court, Henderson or North Las Vegas.
00:02:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think some of our listeners don't realize we have three justice courts here in Southern Nevada. So you have to be careful. Where does that property actually need to go before the judge?
00:03:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
I remember one time we posted in Las Vegas and then we found out that it was actually a North Las Vegas resident, even though the address said Las Vegas, it was, it was in the jurisdiction.
00:03:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
of North Las Vegas court. Yeah. And so because all three courts are three completely separate entities, they actually do have slightly different paperwork. And so that's where it can kind of get you stuck in some trouble. If you're not filing the correct paperwork at the correct location, you're going to get, you know, stuck in a wall. You're going to get nipped in the butt because then if you don't file the paperwork correctly,
00:03:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
they don't tell you right away.
Court Process Efficiency and Timeline
00:03:51
Irelynn Zurflueh
They tell you maybe a day or so before you plan on doing the next step. And then you've lost all that time and you have to what Ireland?
00:04:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
Start over. I hate those words. I hate when we are doing anything when it comes to the courts and I, and I go, oh crap, we have to start this whole thing over again. So you've lost all those days.
00:04:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
And the resident gets to live there for those many days for free. Because even though Southern Nevada has a pretty good ah justice court, as far as getting the documents in getting before the judge much better. In fact, I hear that we are one of the best in all of the nation to us. We feel like it's still delayed because we're used to it And every time there's an extra delay, we're like, Oh, it's so slow.
00:04:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
But in reality, we are one of the best in all of the nation from getting resident who has not paid rent, a summary of of a judgment, summary of eviction, we can usually do it in about 40, 45 days.
00:04:51
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. Now I used to be able to do it in 30. I used to be able to tell owners a long time ago, hey, don't you worry about that. Our system is set up that we can get that non-payment, ah that non-paying resident out within 30 days.
00:05:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
However, I think because our cities have gotten bigger and there's just a lot more happening, Now it's more like 40 to
Serving Notices and Legal Compliance
00:05:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
45 days. so Yeah, I would say 40 to 45 on um any non-payment of rent. And then sometimes the other ways to serve somebody might take a little bit longer, not too much longer, but just because it's not that standard seven day.
00:05:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
You're just looking at maybe just a little bit more time. So let's talk a little bit about just quickly. We don't have to dive into it, but just what is the actual process? What's the first thing that happens? There is a resident that has stopped paying rent.
00:05:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
What do you do? So um specifically, i do believe a lot of states have certain laws in Nevada. You have to provide your resident a three-day grace period. That is the minimum.
00:05:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
But whenever that grace period ends, whether it's the minimum three days or it's something additional that you provide on your lease, the day that they become delinquent is the day the grace period ends.
00:06:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that is the first day that you can serve that seven-day pay or quit notice. That seven-day pay or quit notice does need to be served directly to their door as well as mailed to them.
00:06:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
We use a third-party serving company who are actually licensed in proper servings. And that makes it to where it stays all very clear and we don't make a lot of mistakes because we're using that third party. Well, and I highly, highly recommend that. So if you're listening right now and you've got a situation or you know somebody that is in this situation, share this episode because this little tip is going to save them thousands of dollars as well as frustration.
00:06:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
Use a licensed server because I have gone to court many times with previous cases before me. And the judge will call both the plaintiff and the defendant up.
00:07:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then the judge will look at the plaintiff and say, i don't have proof of service. And the plaintiff will go, no, I posted it on the door. And I've got this one right here, your honor.
00:07:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
And the judge will be like, no, it's not signed by our court. Our court doesn't acknowledge that. So therefore, you have to start all over because if you can't prove to the judge that you have proof of service, then everything stops and you have to start over.
00:07:28
Irelynn Zurflueh
In Ireland, that happens at least once or twice every time I am at court. So make sure. Just bite the bullet, get an actual server, and the server will know how to do it properly. Don't risk that.
00:07:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because even though they give you instructions on, oh, do this, do this, and they make it sound easy, no, no, no it's not easy. Have somebody do it. Yeah. It's really nice. ourer Most servers would be licensed. And so what's really great is that if you use a server, they actually will sign with their license number the exact date and time that they served that person. And so it's just so much more...
00:08:04
Irelynn Zurflueh
of that documentation, that paperwork trail that's going to be really important when you go in front of a judge or try to make a case for removing somebody from a property.
Eviction Notices and Resident Responses
00:08:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
And story, I'm just going to give a little kudos to the server that we've been using for quite a few years.
00:08:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
I needed to just serve a past resident and she was avoiding us. And she had a business address that nobody would answer the door and nobody, I don't even think it was a legitimate business address, but that's the only thing we had.
00:08:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
We did have a phone, so we were texting her. The server actually met her in a park and served her in the park. So here there are servers that will go over and above knowing how important it is that you get this proof of service done.
00:08:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
So the seven day pay or quit is exactly what it sounds like. I have a lot of owners that say, what does that mean? Seven days pay or quit. It means that that non-paying resident has seven business days, seven court days.
00:09:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
Oh, that's right. You're right about that. Because in my mind, when I say business days, i always use the court days. She said court days because there's a lot of courts that are not open on Friday. Fridays and any kind of national holiday, and obviously sometimes businesses stay open during national holidays.
00:09:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
So with court, again, in Nevada, check your courts. They are closed Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays and holidays, and those do not count. You're right, Ireland, because my my verbiage has always said business days, but you're absolutely right. It is court days.
00:09:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
So in those seven days that the court is opening and functioning, that is when you get to count the seven days. Now, if the resident believes that for whatever reason they have a case and they want to appeal or answer this, then they can go down to the court and they can file ah file their paperwork.
00:09:51
Irelynn Zurflueh
And what does that mean when they do that, Ayrton? So if a tenant answering does get filed, then that means that if you take it to the next step of the proceedings, there will always be a court case given to you. So anytime a resident provides an answer,
00:10:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
that means that you will appear in front of a judge. There is never going to be an automatic judgment given for that. And you what's crazy is I've seen some of the answers. I've seen some of the appeals that and our residents have put down.
00:10:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
And one of them was i didn't want to pay. And I still had to go to court. So more than likely, even though the judge does have the right to look at the answer or look at the appeal and deny it, to this day, I still haven't i haven't seen one deny it yet. Yeah.
00:10:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then the second part of the seven-day pay or quit is the quit portion. And that is basically giving the residents the opportunity to, within those seven days, give back possession
Cost and Process of Eviction
00:10:52
Irelynn Zurflueh
of the property. So return keys and say, you're right. I can't make the payment. I'm going to get out of here.
00:10:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
Obviously that's... avoid eviction. And avoid eviction. That's what i was going to say. Oh, I jumped on in on that. Good job, Ireland. You know all about that. But I like to push that because if you really know you're a resident and you know you're not going to be able to come up with the money...
00:11:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
Don't drag it on because if you drag it on, then you're going to get an eviction on your record. But if you quit, which this is what the service allows, you quit, you may have some kind of a collection based upon what your past rent is due because you still owe those days that you lived in the property.
00:11:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
But at least you won't have an eviction on your record. So that's important. Now that's if a resident appeals or answers the the the service that we've done.
00:11:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
What if they just don't do any of it? Then what happens, Ireland? So the person who originally served, the PM or the landlord or that private investor, can decide at the end of the seven days when it expires to proceed with the next step, which is a summary of eviction request.
00:12:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
That summary of eviction request is then sent to the courts, and that is when it goes in front of a judge. And if the judge does not see that there is a tenant answer on file,
00:12:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
he will most likely grant an automatic answer. So that means an automatic eviction. yep And then that's when they'll send that automatic eviction or that eviction answer to the constable's office.
00:12:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
You then have to pay the constable to serve that final 24-hour notice. And then if the resident is still not out by the end of the constable's 24-hour notice, they will go to the property and they'll perform the lockout.
00:12:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
And remember, when you do get the summary of eviction granted and you you are the responsible party to get to the constable and pay the constable, don't assume that that's going to happen through the court system, even though you got the summary of eviction granted.
00:12:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
Go and pay the constable. And the constable is kind of a unique one. You're going to have a base price, but then they're going to charge you per mileage. So there whenever my owner says, okay, well, how much is that constable going to be?
00:13:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
i never really know because it's from wherever the constable is starting from. then they charge you the per mile rate. So it's a ballpark and you know, you kind of just give a ballpark.
00:13:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
So all in all, if we have to do an eviction, from start to finish constable going to the courthouse filing all the paperwork. It's about a 15 to $1,700 process, give or take.
00:13:29
Irelynn Zurflueh
So just be prepared that it's not super cheap. Um, it's not, I mean, overly expensive. I know other States are crazy, but there are the, the seven day there's the, you know, the, my charge of going down to the courthouse paying for parking,
00:13:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
So there are some things that that are part of that eviction process that you are going to pay for as an owner, but definitely not as bad as sitting, letting the residents sit there for free.
00:13:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
You want to get possession of the property.
Dealing with Lease Violations and Court Outcomes
00:13:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
What are some other, you had mentioned earlier in the podcast, I know we're talking about non-payment of rent, but what are some of the other ways that we need to gain possession back of the property that's not non-payment of rent?
00:14:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yes. So one example of that would be a lease violation. So there is an opportunity to serve resident's notice that they have a lease violation. And if they don't correct that within five court days, then you can proceed and request a summary of eviction.
00:14:26
Irelynn Zurflueh
The same kind of situation exists for the five day as it does for the seven day. If they pay within those seven days, everything's void. situation.
00:14:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
concept If they fix the lease violation within those five days, everything is void. So that one you don't see as often because there is a lot more opportunity for that resident to correct the issue.
00:14:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
if it's weeds or a stationary car in the front yard or maybe they, you know, pissed off the HOA a little bit. There's more opportunity for that to get resolved before it goes to the summary of eviction portion.
00:15:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
And just full disclosure, i have seen where judges are very lenient on the lease violations. I have to be very honest with my owners and say, hey, I can serve this lease violation and I'll take it all the way to the courts.
00:15:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
But for the most part, those judges are very resident friendly when it comes to the lease violations. And even though we have given them ample time to fix that violation, the judge is usually going to give them more time to fix the lease violation and then call for a recheck or a status update.
00:15:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I have never yet been able to get somebody out on a lease violation. More than likely, they'll either just get frustrated, they don't want to fix it, so they leave, or the judge gives them so much time that it's like, okay, then they finally do it. But it's tedious. That one to me seems tedious.
00:16:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. And the other one that we see a lot is if you give proper notice for somebody to vacate, whether that be a 60-day or a 30-day or whatever your state requires notice-wise, and they don't leave, the contract has ended, and they're still in possession of the property,
00:16:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
That is kind of the third way that you could take somebody to court. What you need to do in that instance is you need to let that 60-day or 30-day notice expire, and then you need to serve them ah five-day unlawful detainer notice. So basically saying you shouldn't be there, you have five days to get out, five court days, and then if at the end of those five court days they're still there, then you can proceed with the request for summary of eviction.
00:16:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that one is also a big problem because Judges also are very resident friendly on that particular thing. So I went to court where I gave the 60 day notice, I gave the 30 day notice, and then the resident was still living there because it wasn't convenient for them to move.
00:17:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I went before the judge and I thought, well, this is going to be a no brainer. And then the judge gave them another 30 days. And I'm like, whoa, I did everything right. And the judge still gave them 30 days.
00:17:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
So that again is one of those where I never feel 100% confident that I'm going to go in and get the outcome that I want. Yeah.
The Importance of Documentation
00:17:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
I'd say that when it comes to the non-payment event, it is a pretty clear, just do you have the money? Do you not have the money?
00:17:28
Irelynn Zurflueh
But with the five-day lease violation or the five-day unlawful that came from the 30 or 60-day notice, there's a lot more conversation. There's a lot more that the judge will ask. There's a lot more circumstances that they'll want to inquire further on. So those usually we will still serve them, and obviously we do still serve them frequently, but it's more on a case-to-case basis, and we do try to disclose to the owner. It's not as similar as it is the seven days you might think. The process is similar.
00:18:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
But the end result might vary more than it does. And we've got an interesting one right now that I'm actually going to court for yeah on Monday, which is the resident actually wants to move out and their lease is all terminated and we didn't renew the lease.
00:18:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
but the healthcare provider doesn't want him to move out and she's manipulating him. So it is going to be an interesting court case on Monday, because I think the health pride healthcare provider is gonna be there speaking on behalf of the resident.
00:18:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I have to be very careful not to let that voice be heard to the judge. The judge needs to know that he should be listening to the resident, the person we have the lease signed with, which then goes into, I just want to let everybody know documentation is so important.
00:18:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
When you are going to court, you better make sure you've got your tenant ledger. You better make sure you've got clear, like make sure you've got a ledger that shows where the funds are going and they're very clearly signed dedicated to, I guess. And that's what the tenant ledger, of the owner ledger is for.
00:19:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
I also think it's important you've got to have your lease because the judge is always going to ask. And if you're coming in for a lease violation, make sure you've got your photos ready to go.
00:19:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I'm going to recommend do not keep your photos on your phone. Even though the judge will look at your phone, it delays everything. It's frustrating. um We all know when you pass a phone to somebody, you're trying to press something and then it doesn't go quite right.
00:19:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, the judge has the same problem. So my recommendation from years of experience, have your photos printed and then make sure you have three sets. One set that you keep, one set that you give to the judge, and then one set that you give to the plaintiff or the defendant, depending on where, what the category is.
Building a Knowledgeable Legal Team
00:19:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
So that's a little ah tip for that. Three sets of documentation. It's definitely of it's a lot of paperwork. It's, it truly is its own career field. That's why you have, you know, court people who work for the courts. That's why you have people who are licensed servers.
00:20:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's why you have law offices that, you know, have whole people to like focus on just court paperwork. And so it can sound very daunting. And that's the unglamorous part of all this is that it is daunting.
00:20:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that can just cause a lot of stress for investors. And that's why we always suggest let Find your team, find the people that you can work with that know these things, that can keep you up to date, that can take care of these things, that have practice doing it every single month.
00:20:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
So in that way, when, you know, that unfortunate time comes where you're in this situation, you're not in it alone. You have that team behind you that can support you. And that's what having a good server and having a good property management company can do for you.
00:20:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
is help protect your asset by literally just knowing how to deal with the courts because that's not a specialty for every person. I agree 100%. Well, i hope you've enjoyed this episode and you've got a clearer picture of how the justice court is handled in Southern Nevada.
00:21:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
And if you have found this helpful, please share this episode with someone else. And of course, subscribe to Thoughts for Rent, Realtors Keeping It Real. And if you ever have any questions or you want us to talk about a certain topic, how do they get ahold of us, Ireland?
00:21:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
They can reach out to us through our information and our description on this episode. And they can always use that information to get to our website or to get to our phone number. And we would be happy to take your call.
00:21:33
Irelynn Zurflueh
And again, i love having Ireland here. you can you As you could tell, she knows so much about this. She is like the expert in that field. So appreciate you joining me. And until next time, I like to say manage smart and protect your asset.
00:21:48
Irelynn Zurflueh
Bye, guys. See you later.