Evictions aren't fun for tenants or landlords, but they can sometimes create a dangerous situation for you or your future tenants. Here are some steps to safely handling an eviction.

Make Sure an Eviction Is Necessary

There are certain warnings for problem tenants that are required by law. The tenant must be notified when there is an issue that would allow them to be evicted, and then they have a specified amount of time to fix the issue. Sometimes, all it really takes to correct a tenant's problem behavior is a strong warning such as this. When you can avoid evicting a tenant, it is often advisable to do so, both for the financial benefit and for the time and hassle you will spend dealing with this dispute. Plus, it gives you a chance to see if you will garner any kind of cooperation from the tenant if you do need to go forward with an eviction.

Determine the Person's Stability

The first step of proceeding, which can be difficult, is to determine the person's emotional and mental stability so that you can get a sense of how difficult an eviction will be. If you expect there to be a malicious response, you might want to leave the eviction to a professional management company who has experience with safely handling these situations.

Hire a Lawyer for the Eviction

If you do need to evict a tenant, it is always a good idea that you hire a lawyer first. There are various state laws, depending on where you live, that will dictate what legal rights a tenant has in the proceedings. It will limit what actions you can legally take as a landlord when trying to evict a tenant. Do yourself a favor and don't cross your boundaries while attempting to get a tenant off of your property. It's not worth damaging your reputation as a landlord and potentially having to pay a lot of money to the tenant for violating their rights.

Consult a Locksmith

And lastly, be sure that you consult a locksmith about the eviction. They are critical in providing safety for the property. You may or may not be able to change the locks on a tenant who hasn't paid rent and is being evicted. But you certainly want to get rekeying service, such as from Key One Inc, as soon as the tenant leaves. Don't put your next clients in jeopardy by leaving the door open for an angry, past tenant.