From someone who's gone through the process of evicting a tenant...
This was in Bay County. Three to four months is probably more accurate, but SJ is right, in that it can take much, much longer. The tenant has more rights than the landlord.
I have an interesting eviction story. My tenants were friends of a family member, down on their luck, and genuinely good folks. I let them stay at the house for about 3-4 months without paying rent, before I took action because I wanted to help. What followed was the eviction process. See what happened at the end...
Check with the Walton County website for the details. First the LL files a Notice to Quit, delivered by certified mail or by hand. In my case, the tenant continually refused the letter, which added a couple of weeks to the process. the Notice to Quit is the first of many steps to eviction. At this point the tenant can do all sorts of things that will stop the process.
If they receive the letter and do nothing, the LL can then file with the court a Complaint for Eviction and Damages, an Eviction Summons, and a Summons Action for Back Rent and Damages. Basically, the first document says you're filing a complaint and the last two docs, are the commands to serve the summons.
Next, the tenant has 5 days to take action. Again, this can come in many forms. In my case, the tenant wrote a 10 page, hand written letter of hardship that she submitted to the judge. She could have paid partial rent, or disputed the amount, any of these actions, slows the process, or can start the process all over again.
Three weeks later, we went before the judge and I was granted possession of the premises. Because she made no attempt to pay anything, the judge ruled in my favor. From this point, a Writ of Possession is ordered, the tenant is served and they have 24 hours to vacate the property.
My situation was not pretty, as when I arrived with the sherrif, they had not taken the action seriously. As for their personal property, you can not simply take it to the curb for trash pick-up. By law, you are required to run a notice in the paper and provide a place for them to recover their belongings for 30 days.
I started the process the first week in January and the last of their belongs were removed by the last week in March. The filings and sherrif's services cost between $200-300.
I further went to mediation with my tenant because they wanted to pay the rent and clear the judgement. After two payments, they stopped and I have had no communication with them since. Mysteriously, about a year later, the remaining balance on what they owed was deposited to my checking account indicating that it was back rent. They made good on their debt.
I'm sharing this for landlords AND tenant as I hope it is helpful to someone in either position. These are hard times and it's difficult to make these decisions without a realistic idea of what to expect in the process.
