Just A Landlord

Years ago, maybe 1995 or so, I wrote the first draft of a guide to doing an eviction yourself. It has been updated many times since then, with lots of input along the way from users and experts alike.

I am once again in the process of updating the instructions to fit the changes that have occurred over the past couple of years  years.  While at it I am consolidating everything on a new server and this site.

So over the next couple of weeks I will have the series updated and posted here.  You can subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified as they are posted.

The following is a basic outline of the steps required for an eviction. These instructions and forms are optimized for Milwaukee County, however most are valid statewide.

Collections & Evictions Overview

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Disruptive tenants only get worse the longer they are allowed to act poorly without intervention. A tenant who is falling further behind in their rent is less likely to be able to pay off their balance as time goes on. Owners who succeed address the problems quickly.  Either the tenant resolves it, moves or the owner evicts.

The problem for a lot of owners is they are intimidated by or unsure of the process.  Here is an overview / outline

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A reader responds to the previous post:

Can I evict for non-payment if I received a city order on the property or is this considered a retaliatory eviction?  The tenant is a month and a half behind in rent payments.

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A lot has changed in Milwaukee County eviction court over the past nine months. Recently a property owner we do work for faxed in a five-day notice she filled out herself, requesting we give it to the attorney and proceed with an eviction.

Our staff immediately noticed two problems with the notice that would cause the eviction to fail:

1. The owner listed late fees on the notice
2. She had used an older “fill in the date” 5-day notice. The date she entered was five days after the day she mailed it certified.

I had to call the owner and tell her she needed to start over with a new five day. She was upset and said this was the last financial straw – she is ready to walk away from the properties.

While hopefully she rethought this, it reminded me of the need to post these changes again so the rest of us do not make the same mistakes.  So what are these are  changes … (more…)