I tried to post this yesterday but my computer is doing something wierd?
Anyway, you're in Sarasota County, so here's a link to thier website.
http://www.sarasotaclerk.com/default.asp?Page=48
You should be able to down load the forms you need off there. If not, you can get them at the courthouse (probably for a small fee of course
).
You'll need to post the notice to pay rent of vacate first.
You can post it yourself, have someone do it for you or hire a certified process server to do it.
Once that passes, you need to serve them with the residential eviction summons package.
Filing fees went up (again) statewide for Clerks Offices throughout the state. IIRC, the filing fee is now around $400.00 for an eviction.
(All because local, state and county governments can not or will not live within thier budgets!
-maybe one day we'll learn? Otherwise, we'll end up like Kalifornia and be bankrupt)
Once your summons is filed there are two (2) routes you can go with it.
You can have it:
1 -
Posted - This get's the tenant out quicker but you can not collect $$$ damages (costs, past rent, etc,). At least it get's them out of the place so you can move forward.
I generally recommend this to people who are owed very little if any back rent, have little to no damage to the property, and just want the tenant out so they can sell or rent the property.
2-
Personal service - Service on the individual(s) named (the tenants + John + Jane Doe).
This can be done by serving them individually, or through any person 15 years of age or older that co-resides with them
This serves essentially the same effect as the posted summons except that the process is slightly longer; however, in this case, you can collect $$$ damages and costs if the courts grant them.
Either type, posting or individual service, can be done by either the
Sheriff's Office or a Private Process Server.
The Governor just signed Senate Bill 412 that allowed the Sheriff's offices statewide to increased thier fee's for service of process to $40.00 per defendant. All other fees increased as well.
In this case, you'd be looking at $80-160.00 in service fees depending on whether you went the extra route with the John & Jane Doe's.
Many of the private servers have followed suit. I haven't yet, but most likely will sometime later in the year.
Private servers will get the job done quicker and generally put more effort into it, simply because we have less of them to do each month than the Sheriff.
It's no slam on the Sheriff, just simple logistics. When you're doing several 1000 as compared to several 100, civil documents per month, you can understand why. We do an average of 400-600 documents per month with several of us doing them. So it's easier for us to get more "personal" and move quicker, than the Sheriff whose moving 1000+.
In most cases, a private server will have it done for you in a day, maybe 2-3 depending on thier work load and the availability of the defendant. It also depends on whether you want it posted or served individually?
Posting requires (by statute) two (2) attempts, six (6) hours apart.
Becasue of some of the anal judges we have around here, I have my guys do the 2nd attempt usually around 7-8 hours later or one in the evening hours and one in the morning (or vice cersa depending on when we get it).
After the 2nd attempt, we will generally go back to our car, wait a few minutes, drrive around the block, go to another house in the area, something to waste a few minutes, then make what is essentially a third (3rd) attempt and post it.
I've seen judeges toss them out for posting on the 2nd attempt simply because the statute reads "after making 2 attempts....."
I'd rather err on the side of caution and we're only talking minutes not hours or days!
A private process server is going to cost you between $25.00-50.00 depending on who you use and other factors.
I have some contacts in that area and if you like, get in touch with me when you're ready and I'll give them to you
The whole thing can end up costing you several hundred dollars and take anywhere from about 2 weeks to a month or more.
Best of luck with it and keep us posted.
Gordon
Threaded Mode
