Footage of police officers who have to evict people from their homes.

[Elphaba]

Dateline followed police officers around as they had to evict people out of their homes. Almost all of them were due to the homeowners losing their jobs because of the recession.

In Las Vegas alone, a police authority said there would be fifty thousand (50,000) evictions in the next year.

msnbc.com Video Player

Elphaba

[Just_A_Guy]

Heartbreaking; but even more revolting was the clueless reporter asking a bawling man "where are you going to go? How are you going to explain this to your daughter?"

[bytor2112]

That's pretty sad. The one guy that was being evicted after 12 years in the same house???? No equity? Hmm, makes me think he and a lot of others took second mortgages on their homes and got bit.

[NeuroTypical]

So, I used to rent out a house in a bad neighborhood. I've had to evict maybe 3 or 4 times. Going through the process so many times sort of hardened me against a lot of emotion.

Well, in the state my home was in, here was the process to follow:

Day 0: Rent becomes due, and it doesn't show up.

Day 3: Post a "pay or quit" notice, giving them 15 days to pay or leave.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story did either.)

Day 18: Begin formal eviction proceedings by filing an action with the court. Get papers and court date from the court, hire the services of a Magistrate to properly serve the people.

Day 21-24: Magistrate serves papers which say something like "You are being evicted. Your court date is [X]. You can stop eviction process by paying [$Y] at any point, or by vacating the premises.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story did either.)

Day 28-35: Court date. The renters show up with public counsel. I have to pay for mine. Oftentimes, everyone gets together for a pretrial meeting and see if there can be some sort of arrangement made. Oftentimes, the arrangement is something to the tune of "Renters leave by [X] date, damages to be decided by the court."

The court hears the case, and agreement or not, if money doesn't change hands in front of the judge, the judge will usually set a date to be out, and assign an amount owed the owner.

Day 45ish - The deadline is passed. The renters still sit there. I go back to court to file some motion that results in an eviction warrant.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story paid or left either.)

(Note: in all my cases, everyone has left by this date. In all my cases, they've left a mess. In one case, they left a massive mess on purpose, dumping out boxes of crap and goo all over the place.)

Day 48ish - Warrant obtained, Hire a magistrate to serve it.

Day 50ish - Warrant served, and if you had cameras there, you'd see something similar to the news story.

"I never knew this could happen - but it did! [cry, cry, cry]"

"I tried, baby, I tried so hard, I'm so sorry Hannah! [dad cries, kid cries]

[in Colorado, the owner must pay for a storage unit to store the renter's crap for a period of time.]

So yeah, times are hard. Folks are losing their jobs, or getting a pay cut. But yeah, all the folks in this news story have a multi-week history of not dealing with reality. The owner has spent a ton of money, and lost 2-3 months rent, working through the process to finally reach the point where armed deputies will show up and remove folks - by force if necessary.

I suppose I've developed something of a tough shell, but I no longer react with immediate outraged empathy when I see someone howling like a stuck pig and claiming they've been wronged. I'll wait to get the details first.

My shell wasn't tough enough though, because I had to get out of the landlord business a decade ago. It was just too horrible to see the kids stuck with their parent's choices. If I ever become independently wealthy, perhaps I'll get back into the business and let myself get soaked to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in order to help the kids not have such a traumatic experience due to their parent's situation.

So, if you don't wanna end up on some Dateline NBC show, here are a few things you can do:

* Plan for hard times. Have a monetary reserve should the times come.

* Live below your means - not at the very fringe end of it with deep borrowings.

* When the paperwork starts flying, assume it'll end with you needing to find a new place to live.

* The time for personal responsibility and maturity is BEFORE you start making kids and signing agreements and stuff.

* In other words, live in reality, not in a fantasy, relying on good times to keep you where you are.

LM

Edited March 16, 2009 by Loudmouth_Mormon

[Elphaba]

Day 0: Rent becomes due, and it doesn't show up.

Day 3: Post a "pay or quit" notice, giving them 15 days to pay or leave.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story did either.)

Day 18: Begin formal eviction proceedings by filing an action with the court. Get papers and court date from the court, hire the services of a Magistrate to properly serve the people.

Day 21-24: Magistrate serves papers which say something like "You are being evicted. Your court date is [X]. You can stop eviction process by paying [$Y] at any point, or by vacating the premises.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story did either.)

Day 28-35: Court date. The renters show up with public counsel. I have to pay for mine. Oftentimes, everyone gets together for a pretrial meeting and see if there can be some sort of arrangement made. Oftentimes, the arrangement is something to the tune of "Renters leave by [X] date, damages to be decided by the court."

The court hears the case, and agreement or not, if money doesn't change hands in front of the judge, the judge will usually set a date to be out, and assign an amount owed the owner.

Day 45ish - The deadline is passed. The renters still sit there. I go back to court to file some motion that results in an eviction warrant.

(Obviously, none of the folks in this story paid or left either.)

(Note: in all my cases, everyone has left by this date. In all my cases, they've left a mess. In one case, they left a massive mess on purpose, dumping out boxes of crap and goo all over the place.)

Day 48ish - Warrant obtained, Hire a magistrate to serve it.

Day 50ish - Warrant served, and if you had cameras there, you'd see something similar to the news story.

In Colorado, the owner must pay for a storage unit to store the renter's crap for a period of time.]

That is insane.

Elphaba

[prospectmom]

So, if you don't wanna end up on some Dateline NBC show, here are a few things you can do:

* Plan for hard times. Have a monetary reserve should the times come.

* Live below your means - not at the very fringe end of it with deep borrowings.

* When the paperwork starts flying, assume it'll end with you needing to find a new place to live.

* The time for personal responsibility and maturity is BEFORE you start making kids and signing agreements and stuff.

* In other words, live in reality, not in a fantasy, relying on good times to keep you where you are.

LM

Wow LM you are really harsh... While I don't always understand why people wait till the very last minute mabey they hae nowhere to go or no money to get there....... It is sad to me and if you looked these are nice homes not the usual renters who don't pay or destroy property folks.... People who never thought they could be in that kind of position.....

I work for a property owner and clean up after renters... sometimes very bad circunstances , evictions etc.... terrible messes but it happens.... still with all that I am still sympathetic to others. I am a renter and if I didn't have a good relationship with my landlord would be homeless. I pay my rent every month but since December My Husband has been laid off... We sometimes are 1 to 2 weeks late but totally communicate with our landlord and he knows what kind of trouble we have been having and is awesome... not charging a late fee etc. or I work it off cleaning for him.

From my perspective I will adress your suggestions...

1. We always put away in the summer and plan for winter and still have problems.....

2. We have older cars no debt except living expenses.... We pay cash for most everything.

3. Well I hope we never get in that position but can move into a camptrailer..

4. Well you got me there I guess we should never have had kid since they have always been our biggest expense and well we would have had so much more money if we hadn't had them.

We are hardworking people who don't make alot.... but we do and share with others in time and service whenever needed. We no longer have health insurance are living on unemployment and had to spend over 200 dollars on Dr visits and prescriptions for my daughter who is very sick... this has caused us to not beable to pay our electric bill ( past due notice ) and will loose power by tomorrow because we can't pay till Wednesday again our fault since we didn't plan ahead and we had kids .

Luckily we have a generator and the means to get by for a day till we can pay... Oh yes we have no credit cards, charge accounts... My dear husband has never been laid off for more than a week... Food storage has always helped us through the tough winters this one is really streatching it thin. In spite of all of this our family is doing well... this will pass eventually and we will be as before making it.. not alot of room for extras but ok... but then if we ahd listened to your advuice we would never had kids...

[Iggy]

I was one of the renters who paid the rent faithfully every month and on time. Then I got the sheriff knocking on my door. The mortgage holder had not received payment from the owner for 18 months!

Of course that was not relayed to me by my landlord. The Sheriff intervened and got me a months reprieve. I found another home to rent in 1 week and I made sure that the landlord owned it outright. If he had a mortgage on it, I would have insisted that my rent money go directly to the mortgagee. No way was I getting evicted again because the landlord had not honored his obligation.

I just wish I had had the money to buy the house when it went on auction. Friends of mine did buy it though - for $5,000 they got a $25,000 home on an oversized lot. I just did not have the money or anyway to get it.

[prisonchaplain]

I sympathize with both landlords and rentors. But, my balance goes to the landlords. I've heard this for decades...about the messes left by those evicted, or foreclosed on. OK, life's hard. It may seem cruel. But, many rentals have mortgages on them, and the landlord "owns" only a portion, and also must pay "rent." No matter how bitter life is, why the need to lash out and destroy others' property???

The leaving of messes is common place. I knew this when we left our last rental, and the property manager who did the final walk-through was taking lots of pictures. We asked if everything was OK. He said, "Oh, yes, don't worry. You'll get your deposit back. I just want others to see why they don't!" We'd bothered to clean up after ourselves, and the managers were visibly shocked.

[Moksha]

I feel sorry also for the policemen. Puts them into the position of the tank driver at Tienanmen Square.

On the bright side, it looks like they have some good donuts in Miami.

[NeuroTypical]

Wow LM you are really harsh...

Depending on how you define harsh, I might agree with you. If you mean unsympathetic, unforgiving, or uncharitable, I'd disagree strongly. If you mean harsh as in ungentle, unpleasant, or severe, then yeah, I suppose I am, because I'm discussing life which can be ungentle, unpleasant, or severe. You spelled out a little about your own life that would indicate you know a little about it. Sounds like you actually do have maturity and personal responsibility. But anyway, I know a little about hard times too.

Just keep in mind what my advice was about. I've got no judgements to offer anyone about how they should or shouldn't live life. My advice was merely about avoiding ending up on some Dateline NBC show.

[a-train]

And the current administration is trying to keep housing prices UP....

-a-train

[Elphaba]

And the current administration is trying to keep housing prices UP....-a-train

I knew you were going to show up.

Elph

[talisyn]

I was one of the renters who paid the rent faithfully every month and on time. Then I got the sheriff knocking on my door. The mortgage holder had not received payment from the owner for 18 months!

Of course that was not relayed to me by my landlord. The Sheriff intervened and got me a months reprieve. I found another home to rent in 1 week and I made sure that the landlord owned it outright. If he had a mortgage on it, I would have insisted that my rent money go directly to the mortgagee. No way was I getting evicted again because the landlord had not honored his obligation.

I just wish I had had the money to buy the house when it went on auction. Friends of mine did buy it though - for $5,000 they got a $25,000 home on an oversized lot. I just did not have the money or anyway to get it.

Wow that happened to my parents. We were lucky, they found a house in about 1 week. How many people are out there in the same boat though?