Only a Fool Learns from His Own Mistakes

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

I was in court in central Kentucky this week for a pretty complicated eviction case. There were eight witnesses on my side alone. The judge announced afterward that it was the longest eviction docket in his many years on the bench. After a two-hour hearing, my client had prevailed. However, one of the things that struck me about that day was that I watched three other landlords with much, much, much simpler cases have their evictions dismissed. Each of those cases involved non-payment of rent and, in each case, the dismissal was the result of the landlord failing to give the proper amount of notice. Those landlords are stuck with non-paying tenants for at least another month.

So why did the landlords with the simple cases lose and the landlord with the complicated case win? Very simply, because the landlord with the complicated case saw the big picture. The landlords who lost did so because they didn’t know a very basic fact about evicting tenants. They had not invested in learning how to evict tenants. Because they refused to invest their education, they all have non-paying tenants in their rental units for the next month or two instead of paying tenants. How’s that for a business model?

The landlord who won had invested in its business. It understood that spending money to get educated on the laws, principles, and processes of evicting tenants would actually help the financial bottom line.  The longer non-paying or problem tenants reside in your units, the worse your financial bottom line in the long run.

To that end, I’m pleased to announce my final Landlord Education Conference of 2016 will be held on October 12, 2016, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., at the Double Tree Suites, 2601 Richmond Road, Lexington, Kentucky. The topic of this final conference is Kentucky Evictions from A-Z. As the title implies, I’m going to cover everything you need to know to successfully remove problem tenants. From the routine to the extreme, you will be able to confidently address any situation and avoid the mistakes that result in dismissed eviction cases.

Remember, “only a fool learns from his own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” In handling over 2,500 evictions each year throughout central Kentucky, I see the mistakes that get made repeatedly. Let me help you learn from them so that you're not walking out of court wondering what just happened. As with all of my conferences, seating will be limited in order to address your particular needs and questions. So don’t wait, click here to register today.


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2 comments

  • Technically, it should save the day. Practically, judges will not want to grant a judgment with no notice being given. You’ll have to test it in your county to know for sure. If they won’t grant a judgment with no notice, change your lease to require a seven-day notice and go by that. Good luck!

    Stephen Marshall on
  • I have a notice in my leases that states " After the 12th of the month if no rent is received an eviction will be filed in _________ county courthouse, no other notice be given". Will this help if I have to file an eviction without given the 30 day notice? Thanks

    NDC Properties, LLC on

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