Many landlords have difficulty collecting back rent from tenants after an eviction. Is there a better way to recoup losses from dealing with bad tenants? To summarize, if you remove a tenant because they are in violation of their rental agreement haven’t paid their rent, you may use their security deposit to make up the difference. If the deposit does not cover the complete amount of rent and late charges, you can sue the tenant for any outstanding amount. Let’s take a step back and look at how to evict a renter who stops paying rent on time or at all in Las Vegas, NV.
Dealing With Tenants Who Won’t Pay Rent
You may need to take action against the tenant if you’ve attempted a number of times to collect late or unpaid rent and they’re being evasive or unresponsive.
The first step is to give the tenant a written eviction notice that specifies they are behind on their rent obligation under the terms of their rental agreement, and that they have a specific number of days to pay rent or move out. This is sometimes called a “pay rent or quit” notice. If they don’t pay rent by the end of the period, you can file an eviction lawsuit in your local Las Vegas justice court.
If you win your case, the court will issue a “writ of possession” to the sheriff or constables instructing them to remove the tenant from the rental property because they were found to be in violation of their lease agreement and civil law. You can start attempting to recoup unpaid rent once the tenant has been evicted. If you don’t feel confident handling the eviction process on your own, get help from a local eviction service like NMI Evictions, which was founded by a lawyer. They know how to navigate properly when it comes to evicting tenants, and they can assist you in recovering any losses and regaining control of your rental property.
Collecting Back Rent
As we said before, you have the option of keeping their security deposit to cover any losses or going after them in small claims court if the security deposit isn’t enough to cover all of the lost rent. The tenant will be required to appear in court and defend their position, which may be time-consuming and expensive. If you are evicting and suing for collection at the same time, it’s referred to as the formal eviction process. If you go through the eviction procedure and then sue for back rent later, this would be more comparable to going through the summary eviction process.
You can also ask the tenant to pay up and give you a reduced price in order to avoid legal action. If that doesn’t work, you might try negotiating a payment plan with the tenant or getting a collections agency to get your money back for you. In the end, it’s crucial to keep in mind that removing a renter for non-payment of rent isn’t always simple, but it’s definitely worth doing if you’re owed money.
How COVID-19 Impacted the Eviction Process
When it comes to leasing payments, the Coronavirus makes things difficult. The federal government established emergency rental assistance programs for its citizens in Las Vegas, NV, and across the country as a result of this virus. What these emergency rental assistance programs state is that, effectively, if a tenant fails to pay rent on time or in full, the government will help fill the gap and reimburse landlords. This was intended to reduce landlord-tenant conflicts by allowing both tenants and landlords to benefit.
So, whereas before it was considered a tenancy infraction to cease paying rent, the situation has become complicated, and landlords can’t always immediately deliver an eviction notice. Things have returned to normal in most instances, but there are many individuals who are filing for an eviction lawsuit in court to reclaim back rent.
Get Paid What You’re Owed
If you evict a tenant who won’t pay rent, you can use their security deposit to pay what they owe. If the deposit does not cover the full amount of rent and late charges, you can sue your tenant for the remainder. The ideal approach to prevent this scenario is to carefully vet your tenants and require them to get renter’s insurance. You’ll be protected in that case if they default on their rent.
Contact NMI Evictions immediately if you have an unruly renter that you need to go after for breaking their rental or lease agreement. They will handle the entire eviction process from serving eviction notices and filing court papers to representing you in justice court and getting the tenants removed, whether it’s with the quick or formal procedure. They can assist you in navigating Nevada law from beginning to end.