Evict a Tenant – After You Prevail in Court

Notice of Eviction file stamp on a beige color doorThis is part four in our blog on how to evict a tenant in Tampa. In the first part, you learned how to look for alternatives to eviction. Then, we talked about preparing for eviction in part two and in part three we discussed filing the eviction in court. Today, we are discussing what to expect and do after you have prevailed in court.

The judge will sign off on your eviction, granting you the right to make your tenants leave the property.

What you want to do next is to get the tenants out of your house. To do that, you need a Writ of Possession. You can obtain the Writ by paying your sheriff’s department for it. The sheriff will post the Writ on the property, letting the tenants know they need to move out. A few days later, the sheriff’s office will contact you and ask you to meet them down at the property, so they can hand possession back to you.

Normally, one of two things will happen.

  1. The tenants will move out after the Writ is served, and all you have to do is go to the property, change the locks, do a little cleaning and maybe throw away some of the garbage that might be left behind. That’s a nice, clean and easy way to do it.
  2. The tenants will not have moved out. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on your property once the Writ has been served. Driving by it once in a while will give you an indication about whether the tenants are moving out. If it looks like they are not in the process of leaving, hire a couple of laborers to take with you when you head over to the house once the sheriff calls. The sheriff will go into the house and escort your tenants from the property. As the landlord, you will need to remove all their possessions and take them to the curb, then change the locks so you can complete the eviction and take back possession of your property. This is not a pleasant experience, for you or your tenant, but sometimes it will happen in an eviction process, so you have to be prepared.

If you have any questions about evicting a tenant in Tampa, please contact us at Hoffman Realty.

How To Evict A Tenant Series

1. How To Evict Tenants
2. Prepare for the Eviction
3. Filing the Eviction in Court
4. After You Prevail in Court