Tenants who don’t want to pay their landlords often talk to each other and share their “tricks of the trade” — methods they use to prolong their unpaid stay in their landlord’s apartment.

Here’s how this latest trick works:  after the eviction is held and the writ of possession has been issued ordering your tenants to leave, the tenants will invite other people in to stay.  When the bailiff arrives to conduct the setout, whoever is there will argue that they don’t have to leave, because they weren’t named in the eviction complaint.

Believe it or not, some officials are buying this argument and refusing to remove these squatters from your property.

It has been our usual practice to add an additional “all other occupants” defendant to our eviction complaints whenever we suspect that others may be living there (or might be living there by the time the eviction comes to a head).  However, in light of this latest trick, we are always adding this additional defendant.   Here in Licking County, this will cost an additional $10 in Court costs; however, that is a small price to pay when compared to losing an additional month of rent in order to evict a squatter.