The total will usually range between $25 and $155.  However, some jurisdiction's fees are based on the amount of money you are suing for and may, therefore, be much higher.

      Some courts will return your copies of the forms at this time and will tell you the date, time and court room for your hearing. Other courts will mail these items and information to you a few days later. As soon as you know the date, time and place, mark it on your calendar. You MUST be there, If you are absent, your case will be dismissed and you will be obliged to begin over at the very first Step.

      Florida, and some other states, provide for a quick Clerk's Default Judgment for Possession if the tenant does not respond to the Summons and Complaint. In the event you decide not to pursue a money judgment, the Clerks Default can expedite the eviction process considerably.

This is it; your day in court. 

      Demonstrate your respect for the court by dressing in a business-like manner. Arrive in the court room on time. Bring your entire file relating to this tenant with you. Be sure that you have your lease (if any) and your rent receipts or other rent records. YOUR ARREARAGE FIGURES SHOULD BE CURRENT AS OF THE COURT DATE. While the court will usually have several eviction proceedings scheduled for the same time, yours might be first. In any event, you will be able to sit and listen to other landlords present their cases and get some feeling of how it goes. Keep an eye out for your tenant. The chances are about 50-50 that he will appear. If he does not come there is a good chance that you may be able to take a default (uncontested) judgment.  Take a moment to read about Uncontested Judgments.

      When your case is called, take your papers and walk directly up to the podium or judge's bench. If the tenant is there, he will stand beside you. The judge will review the basic facts of your case and will ask you to provide rent arrearage figures as of the present day. He may ask you if the rental premises are fit for human habitation. You should say that they were so fit at the beginning of the tenancy and that, to the best of your knowledge they are fit at present. If your action is because of physical Injury or a health hazard, be sure to make an exception for those conditions.

      In some states, the judge may ask the tenant if he wishes an adjournment. The tenant may or may not wish one. If he does, the judge may adjourn the hearing for one week or less. If the tenant wishes to have a full trial, he must ask for it at this time. He cannot come back after the adjournment and do so. 

      If the defendant demands a full trial (with or without jury) and it will not be held within a few days from this first hearing, the landlord should ask the court for payment of a reasonable rent into escrow with the court clerk. Put it plainly to the judge that there is a "clear need for protection" in this matter, as loss of the rental income will prevent the paying of the costs of the premises. State further that you do not believe the tenant will be able to pay the accumulated obligations if they are allowed to accrue unpaid during the course of litigation. If the judge honors your request, the tenant will be obliged to pay his rent to the court until you obtain a judgment at the end of the trial. Once you have won your case, the court will pay the accumulated rent to you. If the tenant fails to make the escrow payments, he will almost always lose his right to the jury trial. 

      In most instances, the entire matter will be concluded at your first visit to the court. There will be no trial. The judge will look at the facts and the figures and enter a judgment for you, the plaintiff. He will award you your court costs and a judgment for possession. If you have filed for a money judgment as well and, in most states if the process server was able to personally serve the tenant, you will also receive the money judgment. If this happens, as it will more often than not, there will likely be an appeal period.

      Remember that there are TWO dollar figures that the judge may set at this time. If the eviction is for non-payment of rent, he will make a money determination based on the amount you have calculated would have been due you if the tenant had paid as agreed. If you won a money judgment, he would set the amount of the judgment based upon the rent arrearage pro-rated through the day of the court hearing. The money judgment, of course, is the money you can now (hopefully) force the tenant to pay you. The money determination is the amount the tenant must pay you to avoid being evicted. The money determination will always be the larger figure because it is not prorated.

      If the tenant or his attorney has determined to give you a fight, he will demand a trial at the first hearing. If he demands a trial, with or without jury, there may be a trial fee to pay. Unfair as it may seem, YOU must pay this additional fee if the case is to go on. Actually, this is like all the other costs so far. As the Plaintiff, you have paid them. Eventually, if you win the case, they will all be added to what the tenant owes you. Once the demand is made, the court will usually schedule it immediately. In the event of a jury demand, the judge may schedule a pre-trial conference first. Sometimes, if the trial is demanded, but not with jury, the judge may hold it immediately.

      Usually, the jury demand is made by the tenant or his attorney hoping that it will be scheduled as far ahead as possible. Their purpose is almost always to delay the eviction. They are usually trying to buy time for the tenant to secure other housing. Sometimes an angry tenant just wants to cost you money. When a tenant is not paying his rent , and the landlord is usually unable to even show the property to prospects, let alone re-rent it, the legal maneuver is very expensive to the owner. 

      Remember then, that a principal reason for the jury demand is to hurt the landlord financially. Often, the tenant does not want to go to trial at all. He wishes to stretch out his free occupancy as long as he can. He may also be pressuring the landlord to bargain. The judge is aware of this and that is why he will often schedule a pretrial conference before a jury trial.

      Remember, you were cautioned earlier that the tenant might appear at some point, most likely at the hearing. It is quite common to have a tenant appear at the first hearing, demand an adjournment or jury trial and then fail to appear at the adjourned hearing or at the trial. If this should happen to you, simply demand a default judgment. 

      At this point it is worth mentioning an advantage that may come from the presence of the tenant at the hearing. You will recall that we said that in some states you could not obtain a money judgment if the process server was obliged to post the complaint and summons. We said that personal service was necessary for a money judgment. Well, if service was by posting, but the tenant appears at the hearing, then the court has personal jurisdiction over the tenant and you are usually entitled to your money judgment after all (that is, if you filed for one).

         If you are seeking a money judgment and possession from a welfare tenant and the tenant has now demanded a jury trial, you may often be able to go into the corridor with his attorney and negotiate a settlement in which you will drop the money judgment and then give the tenant an extra 5 days in which to move voluntarily. If you can strike such a bargain, go back into the courtroom with the tenant and the defense attorney and put the agreement on the record with the judge. Be sure that it is agreed that a WRIT OF RESTITUTION will issue on the date  you agreed upon. You can surely see that a money judgment against a welfare recipient is largely worthless and that all you have actually lost is the extra 5 days. In return, you have avoided the much greater delay and the uncertainty of a trial. As a bonus, the tenant is more likely to move without your physical assistance. 

      The above is only an example, but it is intended to encourage you to be flexible and ready to bargain if the going gets sticky.  Another possibility, as covered above, is to ask the court to order the rent escrowed until the case is resolved. If the tenant simply cannot pay the rent the order will will not be carried out and it will expedite your judgment.

      While it is not at all likely, it is always possible that a jury trial will actually happen. If it does happen to you, it is wise to consult an attorney at once. While it is clear that you must "follow through, or never be rid of the tenant, and nothing will legally prevent you from conducting your side of such a trial yourself, whether you will have the courage only you will know.

      If you are game and a bit daring, a middle alternative that might be suitable would be to confer with your attorney, let him coach you and then go in and do it solo. In any event, it is beyond the purview of this e-course to teach court room trial practice. Many books and law-school hours are devoted to that subject and, even then, a trial attorney becomes skilled only after many hours in court.

 THE APPEAL PERIOD

      The end result of your ordeal in court will be (if you win) a judgment for possession of your property and, perhaps, a money judgment. Those welcome words that you may have heard In the court room, "I hereby enter judgment in favor of the Plaintiff for possession and a money judgment in the amount of...." are NOT the judgment. The judgment is a piece of paper which the judge will sign, hopefully the same day. The piece of paper will say those same good things, but you should remember that the date of the judgment is the day the paper is signed, not the day you were in court.

      Once you have your judgment (or judgments) there is nothing you can do with it (or them) for a time. A judgment in tenancy matters is subject to appeal. Actually, under most state Constitutions, all judgments are subject to appeal. but the time allowed varies. The likelihood that an appeal will be filed is very remote. It is almost never done. In the extremely unlikely circumstance that it should happen to you, demand an appeal bond and a rent escrow; then run to your attorney. 

      The appeal period counts like everything else in the courts. The day the judgment is signed is Day Zero, the following day, even if it is Christmas, is Day One. On day after the appeal period you can enforce the judgment. You will do so by carefully filling out the WRIT OF RESTITUTION FORM and submitting it to the judge for his signature. The court will charge you another fee for this service. NOTE that most courts INSIST that the Writ be TYPED

AFTER JUDGEMENT