ATLANTA — A Clayton County landlord says a technical error with the court’s filing system is costing him thousands of dollars.
He told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that it is preventing him from evicting renters who haven’t paid rent since July.
Jabaris Jordan owns a single-family home in Morrow. It is his first rental property and his first eviction that he’s had to personally file.
“I know if it’s happening to me, it has to be happening to others,” Jordan said.
He told Lincoln after the renters signed a lease, and paid the first month’s rent and a $5,000 security deposit, he hasn’t received a dime in rent since July.
“That was very shocking for me,” he said.
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Jordan said he took the renters to court and a magistrate judge granted an eviction in September.
But when it came time to execute the eviction, Jordan admits the renter had a solid defense.
“It was enough evidence to show that she did try to respond to the summons,” he said.
Georgia law allows renters to dispute eviction claims. This allows a renter to remain in the property before a judge’s ruling.
But in this case, a technical error resulted in the judge not getting that critical filing before granting the eviction.
“I did what I was supposed to do. Once the court realized this error was made, they should have immediately jumped on this and rectified the matter. But it took three months to get a court date,” Jordan said.
Jordan eventually got a Dec. 10 court date, but the judge told him he wasn’t on the calendar for a hearing. His case was reset for a January date.
Lincoln tried speaking with the renters, but they did not want to comment.
Lincoln also reached out to the magistrate court and the office coordinator said right now they can’t provide a statement but are currently looking into these allegations.
“I know it’s happening to others, especially if the magistrate court is telling me that it’s an error with their system,” Jordan said.
Jordan believes his eviction would have still been granted even with the renters filing because he said he showed the court proof they have not paid rent since moving in.
He said this delay has cost him close to $20,000 because of this error.
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