It’s not one of the more enjoyable tasks for a property owner or manager, but a reality that most will have to face: handling evictions.
To make the potentially disruptive process run more smoothly, Nationwide Eviction, a company founded by multifamily property owners and managers, provides a web-based portal for eviction services that streamlines the process and connects property managers with experienced attorneys.
“The founders of the company noticed that just about every aspect of property management has been streamlined and automated except for eviction,” says David Merrill, the firm's national account executive. “Going to court and filing an eviction is the archaic method. They were determined to find a better way that could be used across different jurisdictions.”
Nationwide Eviction serves as a central hub for eviction case management, with documentation customized based on the requirements of local courts. Users can track every case in one location and in real time; receive email alerts and status updates as a case progresses; and dismiss cases or request writs online. Multiple accounts with customized levels of access can be created to keep everyone in the loop, without anyone having to set foot in a courtroom.
Going to court to file for eviction or sit through a hearing can be tedious and time-consuming, Merrill says, taking managers away from what they do best.
“When they have to spend hours in courtrooms filing evictions to deal with the 2% of tenants that don’t pay, that takes them away from spending time serving the 98% of great tenants,” he says.
Nationwide Eviction works with independent landlords and large developers, including a majority of the nation’s top 100 multifamily management groups, Merrill says. The primary benefits vary for each user segment. Large management companies might lose more significant amounts of time or money to process a greater number of eviction cases across states. And smaller firms often aren’t as familiar with the process, leading to frustration or errors, and may have difficulty taking time off from work to go to court.
In addition to providing eviction case services, Nationwide Eviction also offers comprehensive reports for executives to stay up to date on operations across their portfolio, including an end-of-month summary and trend reporting.
While the costs per eviction case vary widely across jurisdictions, Merrill notes that filing through Nationwide Eviction is often less expensive than filing individually, since the company can obtain bulk pricing on eviction filings due to the number of cases they process.
As more of our daily life takes place online, Merrill predicts this process will soon become commonplace.
“A lot of people are still going to court to file eviction, but a few years from now, you won’t even be able to imagine doing it any other way than online,” he says.
While it might not make having to evict tenants any more pleasant, it will at least make the process a little easier.
