You've decided that you need legal help with a tenant.  Now what?

Should you hire an eviction service? A certified legal assistant?  A large eviction-mill law firm?

No. 

You should hire The Law Office of Howard F. Burns for the following reasons:

1.  Personal Service:  Eviction companies and large eviction-mill law firms are volume businesses.  When you call, they ask you for a client number, not your name.  Mr. Burns personally handles your case from day one, answers and returns your telephone calls, provides email updates at each stage of your case, is available to advise you and answer questions, and can represent you in court.  Hire a lawyer who knows and cares about you and, unlike an eviction service, can handle your case from start to finish. 

2.  Professionalism:  Mr. Burns is a member of a profession and is bound by rules of professional responsibility.  Eviction companies are not lawyers.  What do you really know about the eviction company or "certified legal specialist" that is seeking your business? There are no educational or experience requirements nor are there any rules governing their relationship with clients.  

To be an eviction service, one need do little more than hang out a shingle and buy some advertising.  Can you really trust your investment property to them?  Why worry about whether your case is being handled right?  Hire a professional and, for about the same price, get the job done right the first time. 

3.  Attorney-Client Relationship:  Eviction companies and "certified legal specialists" are not lawyers.  Thus, there are severe limitations on what they can do for you. 

Eviction companies cannot give legal advice; they cannot represent you in court.  There is no attorney-client privilege protecting communications between you and the eviction company. 

All that these eviction companies can do is fill out the initial paperwork.  But what if the tenant contests the case? Then what?  You'll have to hire a lawyer anyway.  For almost the same price, hire a lawyer and have a licensed, educated, trained and experienced professional to represent you from the start.

4.  Trial and Litigation Experience:  Mr. Burns has been litigating cases through trial in San Diego for 20 years.  Lawyers in large eviction-mill law firms often lack trial experience.  Eviction companies cannot represent you in court.  Worse, eviction companies often times only start the case for you; after that, you're on your own. 

Hire Mr. Burns and let him take your case from start to finish, through a trial if necessary, and to collection of the judgment.  Mr. Burns has successfully handled hundreds of eviction cases for satisfied clients throughout San Diego County. 

5.  No Hidden Charges:  Eviction companies advertise low cost evictions.  But read the fine print.  Usually, that low charge does not include costs (filing fees, process serving fees, etc.) and only covers starting the case or pertains to uncontested cases.  If the tenant contests the case, you're stuck. 

Some eviction law firms also use the "bait and switch" hidden cost routine.  Such firms advertise low cost evictions but then tack on large additional charges if the tenant contests the case, if a trial is necessary, or if the tenant is represented by a lawyer.   Look carefully at the supposed "low-cost" eviction. 

Mr. Burns' fees are reasonable and competitive.  With Mr. Burns there are no hidden charges.  All charges are set out for the client in writing, in advance.  You will never be charged for anything not disclosed in the writing.  And Mr. Burns does not charge extra just because the tenant contests the case or because the tenant hires a lawyer.

6.  Committment:  Mr. Burns only  represents landlords and he specializes in eviction practice.  Other eviction lawyers represent both tenants and landlords or evictions comprise only a small part of their practices.   

Mr. Burns is committed to helping landlords only.  It is unfortunate that, under California law, tenants who are failing in an obligation as basic as paying rent can require so much effort on the part of the aggrieved landlord to get them out.  Mr. Burns understands  landlords' frustration and aggravation and is experienced in getting bad tenants out as quickly and inexpensively as possible.