What is the procedure in Franklin County for an immediate set out of the tenant if the tenant has failed to vacate by the agreed-upon move-out date?
Generally, a landlord obtains an immediate set out through a written agreement with the tenant. If the tenant fails to honor his or her obligations under the agreement, the agreement may specify that the landlord is entitled to an immediate set out. For example, if the landlord and tenant agree to a specific move-out date and the tenant fails to move-out on or before that date. The landlord can enforce the eviction due to the tenant’s violation of the agreement (agreed entry).
To enforce the immediate set out, the landlord or the landlord’s attorney presents an affidavit to the court indicating that the tenant has failed to honor his or her obligations in the written agreement between the parties. In the case of a move-out agreement, the landlord would indicate in the affidavit that the tenant has not moved out by the agreed upon deadline. The landlord or the landlord’s attorney files the appropriate paperwork for a red tag and set out and pays the associated fees.
The Franklin County Municipal Court requires payment of the red tag fee even though you have obtained an immediate set out.
Immediate set out means that the landlord does not have to wait for the red tag to be posted nor does the landlord have to wait five days after the red tag has been posted before scheduling a set out with the bailiff.
Once the paperwork is filed and the fees are paid, the paperwork proceeds to the duty judge for his or her approval. The duty judge is often inundated with various matters throughout the week and may not get to the landlord’s eviction paperwork immediately.
The duty judge is often inundated with various matters throughout the week and may not get to the landlord’s eviction paperwork immediately.
Once the duty judge approves the landlord’s request for an eviction, the paperwork heads back to the clerk of courts. The clerk of courts then sends the paperwork to the bailiff’s office. I do not work at the Franklin County Municipal Court so the paperwork may stop at various other offices/places/locations as it makes its way through the 18 floors that are occupied by the Court at 375 South High.
Heck, your paperwork may even experience delays as it could be mishandled, misplaced, or even temporarily lost there as this has happened before. Note that the Court processes almost 60,000 eviction cases each year in addition to all the other civil and criminal cases that journey through the courthouse.
Once the bailiff has the paperwork, the landlord can call in to the bailiff on the following business day to schedule the set out (614-645-7780). If the bailiff does not have the paperwork, he or she will tell the landlord that the paperwork has not reached their office yet. The bailiff often makes it sound like no paperwork has been filed (despite the fact that the bailiff can easily look at the online docket and see what has been filed). This is not the case. The paperwork is simply making its way to the bailiff’s office. There is no way to speed up the paperwork’s journey either.
Keep in mind that there are hundreds of eviction cases proceeding at any given time with the court, so it’s not uncommon for your matter to be delayed a day or so depending on the court’s and bailiff’s schedules.
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