Kansas City has seen nearly 9,000 eviction filings in the past year alone.
If you're a Kansas City landlord, you hope to never be a part of a statistic like this. When you're forced to evict a tenant, not only does it mean that you've been taken advantage of, but it also means that you've done a poor job at selecting your tenants.
The truth of the matter is that this is a common issue for landlords and one of the biggest causes of landlord stress. In today's post, we'll discuss eviction protection for Kansas City landlords. Keep reading and you'll be able to navigate the eviction process and put measures in place to avoid them in the future.
Tenant Screening
The most important form of eviction protection is prevention. If you can prevent poor tenants from living in your rental property, you can avoid the eviction process and rental vacancies. Poor tenants and rental vacancies are the two things that every landlord must avoid.
A thorough tenant screening process involves criminal and financial background checks, as well as reference calls. All of these things can tell you if a tenant has the character and money to rent out your unit. Doing this due diligence will find you great tenants that you won't have to evict.
Inspections and Security Deposits
Even with the tenant screening process, you must take particular measures to make sure your property isn't at risk. Collecting a security deposit at the start of every lease term and inspecting the unit regularly will tell you if the tenant is behaving appropriately and give you a protective measure if they aren't.
A security deposit acts as insurance, protecting landlords against the bad actions of tenants. If a tenant damages your rental or fails to pay rent, you can reimburse yourself for their damage deposit. Inspect the property regularly to detect lease violations before it's too late.
Carrying Out and Eviction
In the unfortunate event that you need to get rid of a tenant, make sure you're carrying out a legal eviction. Every state has specific eviction laws. In Missouri, you can evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent, lease violations, and illegal activity.
Each infraction is served with a particular notice. When rent is overdue by a month, landlords can immediately file an eviction. Lease violations and illegal activity are both served with 10-day notices to quit, which give the tenant 10 days to vacate the property before you officially file the eviction.
Under no circumstances should you attempt to evict a tenant without following due process. This is known as a "self-help eviction" and it can end in severe penalties by the local authority. Carry out a lawful eviction and the process will be complete in 30-60 days, on average.
Property Management and Eviction Protection
Eviction protection is essential to your mental health as a landlord. All of these things will help you prevent or carry out evictions in the simplest possible way. Even still, dealing with them is highly stressful.
That's when you should be hiring PMI Fountain City. With our help, you'll get eviction protection services that handle all aspects of eviction on your behalf, even recovering any money you lose during the eviction process. Contact us today to get the best property management in Kansas City.
