EXECUTION OF WRIT: Part 2 - The Details

Last week I provided some basic information about what is involved in the execution of a writ of restitution (eviction) and how the process works. With this week's post I wanted to provide everyone with some additional -- more detailed -- information about the execution process. I attempted to group these tidbits of info by category. Much of the information below is specific to Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee County eviction squad.

General

- The applicable Wisconsin Statute regarding executing a writ is 799.45, Wis. Stats.

- Milwaukee County Eviction Squad's phone number is (414) 278-5030.

- A typical eviction move-out takes 1 hour.

- Approximately 15-20 evictions are performed per day.

- There is both a 1st and a 2nd shift that performs evictions. The 1st shift arrives at the office around 7 am. The 2nd shift works until 8 pm.

- The landlord should alert the Sheriff if any of the following apply: (1) the tenant has mental health issues, (2) there are dangerous dogs residing in the unit, (3) the tenants are believed to be involved with drug dealing, (4) there are guns on the property, (5) the tenant is elderly and/or disabled and has no place to move to or family to assist him/her.

The reason that the Sheriff wants to be notified of (1) - (4) is for the Sheriff's own safety. If there is a mentally unstable tenant, dogs, drugs, guns, or some other factor that might result in the increased risk of injury, the Sheriff wants to be notified of this in advance so that they can have back-up near by. The execution of a writ can be very dangerous. Tenants who are being displaced from their homes are often emotional (understandably so). I have heard of Sheriff's deputies being injured and even killed while performing an eviction. If a landlord has any inkling that there could be issues during the eviction this should be communicated to the Sheriff's Department.

The reason that the Sheriff wants to be notified of (5) (if the tenant is elderly and/or disabled and has no family to assist or place to move to) is because the Sheriff will then contact the Department of Aging or a social service agency prior to the eviction so that someone can be on hand to assist the elderly and/or disabled person in locating a safe place.

The best way to notify the Sheriff of any of the above conditions is to attach a note to the paperwork that you are filing with the Sheriff. This way the clerk can pass that note along to the eviction squad along with the Writ.

- After the tenant's property has been removed, the tenant and any other individuals living in the unit will be escorted out of the unit. The Sheriff will put a placard on the door. If the tenant returns and enters the unit after the eviction has occurred the police should be called. The Sheriff cannot make a tenant leave the apartment complex or neighborhood as the Sheriff only has the authority to remove the tenant from the unit.

Eviction Route

- The eviction squad performs all evictions on the south side of Milwaukee first and then they move to the north side.

Notification To Landlord

- The Sheriff will do its best to notify the landlord of the date and time for the eviction on three different occassions: (1) the night before the eviction is scheduled, (2) at 7:30 a.m. the morning of the scheduled eviction, and (3) as they are driving to the property to perform the eviction.

Moving Companies

- Certain moving companies are used only on certain days of the week in Milwaukee County. So a landlord does have some control over what day of the week his/her eviction will occur by choosing who to hire as the moving company. If Eagle Movers has been retained then the Sheriff will schedule the eviction for Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. If Aetna Movers are hired then the eviction will occur on a Tuesday. If Dweyer Movers (owned by Eagle Movers) are used then the eviction will be on a Thursday. Wednesdays are reserved for JC Triplett.

Appliances

- If the landlord provides appliances with his/her rental unit then the landlord should notify the Sheriff of this. The landlord should also provide the Sheriff with information about the type of appliances, manufacturer, color etc. If the Sheriff is not advised of this information and the tenant tells the moving company that the appliances are his/hers, there is little the Sheriff can do to prevent this type of theft.

Storage Lockers

- If the tenant has property stored in a storage locker which needs to be removed, the Sheriff needs to be told of this. If the landlord does not know which storage locker is the tenant's, the Sheriff will not remove any items from any of the lockers as they could be held responsible if they remove items from the wrong storage locker.

Tenant's Personal Property

- The Sheriff has the authority to decide what of the tenant's belongings are of no value (junk) and what is valuable and should be packed and moved to storage.

- Neither the Sheriff nor the moving company will remove a tenant's clothing. This rule is in place for safety reasons because in the past the Sheriff/movers were stuck by needles that were left in clothing.

- Only large items will be removed. Smaller items will be left in the unit for the landlord to remove.

- If the tenant's property is infested with roaches, bed bugs, or some other critter, the items will NOT be moved. Moldy items will also not be placed into the moving truck. The moving companies do not want to help spread these infestations throughout the city so the removal of such property will be left to the landlord.

- Once the Sheriff determines what is junk/garbage, the landlord then has a choice to either leave the junk in the property (which the landlord can then remove later) or have the moving company haul everything to the curve (which the moving company will charge the landlord for doing).

- If a tenant is present, and his/her property is determiend to be of value, the tenant is given a choice as to what should be done with his/her belongings. The property can be moved and placed into storage (which the tenant will then be required to pay for if s/he wants the possessions back) or the tenant can opt to have his/her property placed at the curb (for the tenant to remove).

- If a tenant's personal property is going to be placed into storage, the moving company must put the property into boxes, which the landlord will pay for. While it is frustrating for the landlord to have to pay for boxes to house the tenant's property, the moving company cannot just throw the tenant's belongings haphazardly into the back of the truck for many reasons (safety and liability are two that come to mind). The property will also be inventoried.

Liability for Execution of Void Writ

- The Sheriff will be liable to the tenant for any damages resulting from the execution of a writ that was given to the Sheriff beyond the 30 day period. The Sheriff will also be liable for any resulting damages if the Sheriff executes a writ beyond the 10 day period. Wolfe-Lille v. Kenosha County Sheriff, 699 F. 2d 864 (7th Cir. 1983).

Cancellation of Writ

- Landlord must have the docket number that was giving at the time that the paperwork was filed with the Sheriff, in order to cancel an eviction. Only the Sheriff and the landlord are given the docket number. The tenant should NEVER be given the docket number or else s/he could cancel their own eviction.

- If a landlord cancels an eviction, the Sheriff discards the paperwork. As a result, a landlord cannot "un-cancel" an execution of the writ. A landlord should never cancel the eviction with the Sheriff unless they are certain that the tenant has vacated.

Costs of Execution

- The Sheriff charges $112.50 per hour for their time in executing a writ.

- The total cost to execute the writ will be based on the actual hours expended by the Sheriff. The costs will be taken out of the $130 deposit that was previously posted. Any remaining monies will be returned to the landlord within 4-8 weeks. If the total cost exceeds the $130 deposit, the Sheriff will send a bill for the overage.

- The cost of the Sheriff and the moving company are all chargeable to the landlord. However these costs will be taxed and added to any money judgment that the landlord pursues against the tenant -- whether or not the judgment is collectible, is a whole different issue.

- The only costs that are the truly the responsibility of the tenant (aside from if the landlord obtains a judgment against the tenant and actually collects on it) are the costs incurred for the storage of the tenant's belongings after the delivery of the property to the storage facility.