LEGAL UPDATE
i.
ii.
iii.
You must include in your
eviction petition that you are
requesting all rent due and
owing as of the date of
judgment – this should be
included in the “Prayer” at
the end of the eviction
petition;
On the date of the eviction
trial, you must request all
rent due and owing as of
the date of the judgment,
not merely the amount that
was due at the time the
eviction was filed; if you do
not request all rent as of the
date of judgment, and the
judge does not award rent
through the date of judgment
(even if the JP has the
practice of pro-rating), you
have handed the tenant a
waiver of the rent not
awarded. If your accounting
program reflects that the rent
not awarded is still due
(when it has been waived as a
matter of law), you hand the
tenant a potential debt
collection act and DTPA
Claim against you and your
owner when you turn the
tenant over for collection.
You must review every
eviction
judgment
for
accuracy. Again, whether
you do the eviction in house
or use an eviction service,
you must obtain a copy of
the judgment issued and
confirm that all rent as of
the date of judgment was
included; do not merely rely
on the Judge accurately
filling
out
their
own
judgment form.
If you
review the judgment and the
amount of rent as of the date
of judgment is not included,
you have two choices:
a. Appeal within five days
of the date of judgment;
and
b. Weigh the risk of not
adjusting your ledger to
remove the amount of
rent not included in the
judgment – the only way
to be certain you will
have no Texas Act or
DTPA Claim, you must
remove the rent not
included in a judgment
that has become final.
iv.
For those properties using
non-lawyer eviction services,
make certain you understand
that
no
attorney-client
privilege attaches to that
relationship; accordingly, all
of
your
documentation
regarding the eviction, your
communications and the
internal communications of
the
non-lawyer
eviction
service are subject to
discovery by a Tenant’s
lawyer if you are sued for
any reason, under the Texas
Act, the DTPA or otherwise,
because no attorney-client
privilege arose from the day
you decided to file the
eviction.
With regard to your accounting
practices for each resident:
4
www.saaaonline.org | Page
July/August
2018
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