REPRESENTATION OF APARTMENT COMPLEX IN IMMEDIATE EVICTION OF TENANT SUSPECTED OF DRUG ACTIVITY

We were contacted by one of our large apartment complex clients seeking immediate assistance with an issue involving a tenant suspected of drug dealing activity in his rental unit. The police had already been to the complex where the tenant admitted to the allegations, although no arrests were made and the tenant remained at the apartment. In order to avoid the property damage of a potential drug raid, along with the negative publicity in the media associated with a drug arrest at one of its apartments, we immediately advised our client on the process to avoid the normal 30-day waiting period for an eviction, and filed the termination of tenancy complaint within a few days. After the required service and default period, our landlord-tenant attorney convinced the Jackson County District Court to issue an immediate order of eviction (the law generally requires 10 more days of waiting) to have the alleged drug dealer removed. With proper planning and execution, our legal team was able to avoid waiting over 40 days to evict this problem tenant, and more importantly, avoid the negative implications from the alleged drug activity at the rental community.