We’re your Eviction Services Partner

The process varies from state to state, but in the Carolinas and Georgia, evictions typically follow a 4-step process:

1. Notify tenants of their breach (unless waived) and demand possession of the Premises be returned;
2. File an Eviction Complaint / Dispossessory Warrant;
3. Obtain the Judgment for Possession from the Court; and
4. File a Writ of Possession and have the Sheriff perform a lock-out.

Costs vary by location, property type, subsidies, and reason for eviction, so to make it as easy as possible to determine what our flat fee might be, we’ve included a cost calculator on each state’s page.  To estimate costs, click on “How It Works” up above and select your state.  Then, scroll down to the bottom, click on the “Cost Estimator” button, and voila, you have an estimate.  To get exact pricing, you could also contact us through the Contact form above and we can provide detailed information.

Click here to Register Now to become a client of Loebsack & Brownlee, PLLC.

Once you have signed our Firm’s Representation Letter, we will coordinate with our eviction software partner to set up your online account. Training is also offered to new clients, to assist you with learning all the features and tools that are available in the site. Once you login, though, submitting a request for an eviction filing is as simple as filling in all the required fields, and clicking “Submit.” We’ll receive electronic notification of your request, along with all of the information you’ve provided, and we take it from there to get your eviction(s) prepared and your hearing date scheduled.

After you’ve submitted an Eviction Filing Request, our attorneys will review the request and supporting documents, our staff will process the paperwork and submit the Complaint/Dispossessory Warrant to the Court for filing, and will enter the hearing date (once it is set by the Court) into the case information on the site. Then, you can simply log in to your account any time and check the hearing date and time for any case you’ve filed.

After you’ve submitted a Writ of Possession Request, our staff will process and submit the Writ of Possession paperwork to the Court for you, and will advise the Court/Sheriff of your contact information. The Sheriff will then reach out to provide a set of documents, and may also call you to schedule the date and time for the lock-out to occur.

• Georgia – If a tenant requests a hearing and a court date is set, someone from the management team at the community is REQUIRED to attend all hearings. This should be someone with direct knowledge of the case. Our attorney will do all of the talking and take care of everything, but you will need to be there just in case you’re needed to be called as a witness.
• North Carolina – It depends upon the type of eviction you are requesting, but for non-payment cases, we can typically handle the eviction hearing without you having to attend. However, if you are needed for the hearing, our attorneys or staff will let you know. If you are available to attend the hearing, it would never hurt to be present, just in case the tenant shows up in court and testifies or presents evidence. When this happens, it’s always helpful to have someone from the property there to testify as well; if not, the case will most likely be continued which results in additional invoice charges, or the magistrate may dismiss it altogether. If you believe or know that a tenant is going to show up in court, though, please notify us (use the Contact Us link for best results) so we can discuss the matter in advance and make sure you will be ready to testify.
• South Carolina – Because the laws and court procedures are different in South Carolina than in North, if a tenant requests a hearing and a court date is set, someone from the management team at the community is REQUIRED to attend with us. This should be someone with direct knowledge of the case. Our attorney will do all of the talking and take care of everything, but you will need to be there just in case you’re needed to be called as a witness as the State of South Carolina will not let your attorney testify to the facts of the case on your behalf.

If the tenant has satisfied their obligations to you and you want to stop the eviction proceedings, you can do so by simply logging in to your account, finding the tenant’s case and then clicking on ‘Dismissal’ or ‘Vacate’ next to that tenant’s name. Choose the appropriate reason, and then click ‘Submit’. This will generate a notice to our Team that will electronically alert us of the need to prepare and send paperwork to the Court advising that the case can be closed.

Just a note: Once the eviction Complaint/Dispossessory Warrant have been filed with the court, requesting a dismissal will not stop the tenant from being served by the Sheriff/Constable. You may want to advise the tenant that the Court papers may still be served on them, but that you have requested the case be dismissed, and that a Dismissal will be filed on the day of the court hearing. These Dismissals can be obtained by the tenant anytime they wish, by simply contacting the Clerk of Court.

No – we will not file a Writ of Possession unless you have submitted a Writ of Possession Request through our online eviction portal. That way, you will not be charged Court Costs and attorney’s fees for a Writ that you might not have needed.

In South Carolina and Georgia, tenants are required to request a hearing in most jurisdictions.  In other words, they are not automatically granted a trial.  In these jurisdictions, we need to notate in the system when the deadline expires for them to contact the court and request a hearing.  This is known as the End of Answer Period.  Because the software doesn’t have a specific place for that, we’ll enter it as a court date with a 5pm hearing.  If you hover your mouse over the court date, you’ll notice that it says Pending End of Answer Period.  This means you do not actually show up for court at 5pm, but rather the tenant has until 5pm to answer the court.  If they do not, then you win by default and the writ will be available to request on the next business day after our team has had a chance to verify with the court and then update the system. But don’t worry — we’ll send you an email letting you know when it’s time to come request the Writ of Possession.

Because no online eviction system is directly connected with the court system, requests for dismissal submitted online cannot instantaneously stop the case itself. Once the Complaint/Dispossessory Warrant is filed with the court, the tenant will always still be served by the Sheriff/Constable.

Instead of telling the tenant that you have dismissed the case, you could let them know that you have asked the attorneys to dismiss it; that is a more accurate statement.  If the tenant asks why they were served even though you are saying the case will be dismissed or why the court is still showing the case as open, let them know you have requested the case be dismissed, and also that your attorney will take care of filing it on the day of court. We typically cannot do this in advance of the already scheduled hearing.

Please Note: Dismissing an eviction in the online system does not mean that you will not be charged. We try to process evictions as quickly and efficiently as possible, and depending on which county we are currently processing when you submit, your evictions could be processed in minutes or in hours. If you dismiss an eviction before you electronically receive the invoice, and you want to know if you will be receiving charges from us, please login to our eviction portal to check the status of the case.

• Cases that have the status of “New” have not been approved or processed and should not result in a charge if dismissed quickly enough.
• Cases that have the status of “Approved” have already been reviewed and approved by an attorney and should result in an invoice for attorney fees only. If a case is “Approved” and you click Dismiss, you will see a popup letting you know to expect an invoice.
• Cases that have the status of “Processed” have been completed and will result in an invoice for the full amount of attorney fees plus court and sheriff fees.

Click here to see information regarding incremental invoicing for cases that are dismissed before filing but after attorney review.

In the rare instance that one of your cases has a problem that prevents us from processing and filing it for you, one of our attorneys will “decline” the case in the online system. You will receive an automated email making note of this fact. The email will explain why the case was declined. These emails always have the resident’s name in the subject line. If you have questions, please search your email for the resident’s name and you should be able to find that email with the explanation. Many times, if the reason is more involved, the attorneys or a paralegal will also follow up by direct email.

If, after reading the email, you still have questions, please click reply all to that email and you will be connected with the attorney or staff member who declined the case so that you may ask them directly for clarification.

After the case has been declined in the system, the tenant’s name will turn red and the case will drop down into the Dismissed/Vacated section of your Case Status Screen. At this point, the case is no longer active.  Note that the case then disappears from the Firm’s view entirely, which means we cannot see it or interact with it even if you go back and add or update information later.

If, at a later date, you are ready to file on that same tenant again, you will NOT be able to reactivate that declined case, but you should simply re-submit the case to us as it were a brand new request instead.

Don’t forget to check out our Top 5 Tips for Case Submission before you re-submit the case to help you avoid the most common pitfalls.

Invoices are automatically emailed to you overnight, once we have processed and submitted your eviction or writ requests to the Court. By default, our invoices are sent to each user, at their respective email addresses. If you have multiples user logins (e.g. Manager, Assistant, Leasing, etc…), each of these people will receive their own copy of the invoice. This is a great backup in case someone is unexpectedly out of the office or on extended leave. Invoices can be sent to additional email addresses as needed. Please contact info@loebsackbrownlee.com if you would like to set up additional users to receive invoices.

Per our representation agreement, our invoices are “Due Upon Receipt” but you have a 29 day grace period (unless your account was set up as pre-pay or you have a credit limit; please refer to your representation agreement if you are unsure). Our system will send each user an automated email reminder whenever an invoice hits 15 days old and is still unpaid. On day 30, when the invoice is officially past due, our system sends out a final notice and lets you know that your account has been placed on a temporary hold until payment is posted (regardless of the amount of the invoice).

We post checks the same day that we receive them, typically by midday. We kindly ask that you do not call our office to see if a check has been received. Instead, please login to the online portal and click on the “Invoices” tab. The data found there is updated in real time as we receive and post funds that day.

Invoices can also be downloaded from the website at anytime by logging in and clicking on the Invoices tab.

• To retrieve invoices or statements, simply login to Nationwide, click on the Invoices tab, and then select Statements or Invoices. From there you can click Go (leave the search boxes blank) and you’ll see all current information. It’s updated in real time as we post payments.  If you manage multiple properties and you want to filter, start typing the first few letters of the desired property’s name in the property search box and wait.  A list of properties will appear (it may take 20-30 seconds depending on your internet speed and the number of properties in your company) and you can then click to select the property that you want to filter to.
• When viewing Statements, if the system returns the message No Records Found, that means you have a $0.00 balance, so click the box that says “Show Zero Balance” and then click Go again to see your statement..
• If the Invoices report returns no data, that means all of your invoices are paid. To see paid invoices, click Closed and then click Go again.

Click here to see information regarding incremental invoicing for cases that are dismissed before filing but after attorney review.

For additional assistance, please contact our accounting team.

When you click File Eviction, change the Eviction Type to Commercial and you’ll see that the last name, date of birth, and social security number boxes disappear. You can enter the corporation’s name in the First Name box and upload the regular documents (lease, ledger, late notice).  There is an upcharge for corporate defendants as we have to perform extra research and also serve them at their corporate office.

If you file an eviction for any reason other than non-payment of rent for a conventional property with a standard lease, our software will auto-generate a preliminary invoice for our standard fees and the Court costs and email that to you (these all start with the letter C). In the event that other items occur that result in additional charges for that case (such as case continuances, tenant defenses or other complex legal issues), you will receive a supplemental invoice for those additional charges (these invoices will start with the letters CA or CM). Of course, both Invoices need to be paid, as they are for different services in that same case, meaning that their combined total is the true total owed on your account with us. If you’re ever filing an eviction for something other than non-payment and want to know the costs for these cases, please visit our interactive calculator, located on the “Our Process” page for each state, for that estimate. Also, please be sure to read through the pricing sheet in the welcome packet you received, so you are aware of supplemental charges for eviction cases that are for any reason other than non-payment, for mobile home communities, public housing properties, and cases involving a project-based or tenant-based section 8 vouchers, as well as for additional services such as corporate defendant service fees and other items.

This infographic should help explain the difference (and relationship) between our firms.