Eviction 101

What is it about the Keys that acts like a magnet to draw the most irresponsible people? I think maybe it is as far south as you can go so there is a sense of distance from the rest of the country. Our latest adventure began with a slick character who rented Matt and Megan's house. He seemed nice enough, sort of a "good ole boy". We introduced ourselves and were amazed at the amount of "stuff" he had but he seemed ready to settle in and we were pleased for Matt and Megan. But, when the second month of the rental came and no rent showed up, trouble loomed. Megan tried to pin him down. Harry stopped by several times. He had more excuses - he was in Brazil on business, his parents were ill, etc. No rent. Finally Harry filed the eviction notice. The courts down here do NOT waste time. Boom, after they put the notice on the door he had one week to settle with the court. He did nothing! Then, the judge ordered a 24 hour notice to be posted. Ken lucked out, the sheriff couldn't possibly post it over Thanksgiving (after all, it is pretty hard to drive 3 miles and stick a paper to a door) so he got a 5 extra day reprieve. Megan emailed him. Harry called and left a message - clear and simple, after the notice is served he had 24 hours to clear all of his stuff out or he would be considered trespassing and it all belonged to Matt and Megan. We counted the time off, driving by the house every day, hoping he would have shown up and it would be gone. He didn't show AND his cell phone was now disconnected! We had no idea where he was or how to find him! Meanwhile, the mortgage needs paid and Megan and Matt have people interested in renting. So, we cleared it out. I mean, four days of going through somebody elses stuff. So strange. And, when I found the gun clips with bullets, and also the IRS papers showing hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid back taxes - oh, and how about the package of his belongings collected when he was in jail. And the report from Juvenile Court about his son, who was in trouble and the roommate who just got out of jail in MAHONING COUNTY (where I grew up). It went on and on.
At first I felt sorry for him. After working my butt off, I stopped feeling sorry and started feeling mad. He didn't seem too concerned about the $400 court costs, the hours of work, the loss of rent or the inconvenience he caused. We boxed up his kids video games and few little personal things to store but the rest will go to a charity auction and hopefully what the kids recoup will help cover ours and their losses. It won't be a good scene if and when this fellow shows up!