There have been nearly 13,500 evictions over the past year in Tennessee.
Evictions are a problem everywhere, but if you're a Nashville-based investment property owner, it's a problem you want to avoid. No one starts their rental property journey to evict their tenants, but when poor tenants enter the equation, you're often left with no other choice.
Before you panic over a delinquent tenant, it's important to understand eviction protection in Nashville. Eviction protection for landlords helps you avoid financial losses when dealing with evictions. Keep reading and we'll tell you 3 important things to know about eviction protection for landlords in Tennessee.
1. Know the Nashville Eviction Laws
The first thing to do is learn as much as you can about Tennessee's eviction laws. It's incumbent upon the landlord to have a deep understanding of what they can and can't do. For example, there are specific reasons for evicting a tenant, so don't try to evict someone outside of the purview of the law.
Evictions are most commonly carried out due to unpaid rent, property damage, or other lease violations. Each type of eviction is carried out with a specific notice. Always make sure you're giving the correct notice, or else the eviction could take much longer.
For example, for a failure to pay rent, you give the tenant a 14-day pay or quit notice, which gives them 2 weeks to pay the rent or else face eviction. Property damage and other lease violations get a 14-day notice to comply, which means they must rectify the issue within 2 weeks.
2. Perform Tenant Screening and Inspections
Avoiding evictions is the best way to protect yourself against them. Tenant screening is the best way to get tenants who are highly unlikely to require eviction. Screening looks into their financial, criminal, and renting backgrounds to help you narrow your selection down to the best tenants.
Even with tenant screening, you should always ask for a security deposit with rent. When you perform move-in/move-out and other intermittent inspections, you'll be able to determine if the tenant is causing damage.
If it happens, you can take the cost of repairs out of the damage deposit instead of paying out of pocket. Having security deposits and performing inspections is a form of eviction protection.
3. Hire Property Management
Dealing with evictions, even when they're cut and dry, can be mentally draining. You can avoid them entirely by hiring a property manager to take many landlord duties off of your plate.
The very best property managers offer eviction protection for landlords. This kind of eviction protection starts with prevention, which involves tenant screening and finding resources for tenants who are struggling with rent.
If eviction is necessary, the property manager will cover some or all of the associated costs of performing an eviction. These include legal fees, as well as the cost of having a vacant unit.
Get Eviction Protection From PMI Greater Nashville
Eviction protection is an important part of being a landlord. Your tenants will always have access to certain eviction-prevention resources in Nashville, but you need to have your protections.
By hiring PMI Greater Nashville as your property manager, you'll have full eviction protection. To learn more about our services and how they can help you, contact us today.
