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If you decide to do these yourself - BE careful! and do them right.
I did one some years back where the deadbeat tenants had given me a Note for the amount due after I had posted a three day notice. That vitiated the notice, and I had to start all over with the lawsuit - using an attorney - to get the job done.
I did another one recently and of course now I know what I am doing, but there is a lot to the process. You must assume that there are "unknown occupants" in the unit and serve them as well, which is a little tricky. And if no one answers, which is the case (luckily) in the suit I filed, you must request the default of the unknowns as well as the named tenant(s) on the lease.
To some extent it is best to just leave this to an attorney specialized in unlawful detainers, preferably a firm that works ONLY for landlords and never tenants. Even within the law, an attorney who knows one area of the law may know little, if anything, about another. I know a lot about many different areas of the law, but even so - an attorney who has done this sort of thing day in day out may be the best solution. Time is money, and hiring experts is something I very much believe in.
I did one some years back where the deadbeat tenants had given me a Note for the amount due after I had posted a three day notice. That vitiated the notice, and I had to start all over with the lawsuit - using an attorney - to get the job done.
I did another one recently and of course now I know what I am doing, but there is a lot to the process. You must assume that there are "unknown occupants" in the unit and serve them as well, which is a little tricky. And if no one answers, which is the case (luckily) in the suit I filed, you must request the default of the unknowns as well as the named tenant(s) on the lease.
To some extent it is best to just leave this to an attorney specialized in unlawful detainers, preferably a firm that works ONLY for landlords and never tenants. Even within the law, an attorney who knows one area of the law may know little, if anything, about another. I know a lot about many different areas of the law, but even so - an attorney who has done this sort of thing day in day out may be the best solution. Time is money, and hiring experts is something I very much believe in.