Has anyone filed a Writ after filing an Eviction/Dispossessory?

I filed for Eviction to Gwinnett County,GA after the tenant did not pay rent. The notice was served by Sheriff but the tenant did not answer. 7 Days passed and I went to court and got Writ. They have scheduled a date of move out but it is somewhere in Oct 09. (Gosh!).

What is the best way to handle this?

On another forum, a Georgia landlord kept in touch with the Marshalls Office (the office that handled evictions in their county) and their scheduled eviction was moved up when an opening suddenly became available.

You might want to remain in contact with the Sheriffs Office to see if the same thing can be worked out for you.

Yes, I was told that I can contact Sheriff's office if there are any cancellations and move up the date.

In Georgia the allowed appeal time is 7 days after the final dispossessory writ has been served to the tenant.

Don't sweat the "what if"s at this point.

Most likely, the tenant would have no grounds for an appeal, because the tenant didn't show up in court for the trial to contest the eviction. Unless there was very blatant eror by the trial court, the doctrine of "invited error" would preclude the Tenant from challenging the judgment against him on appeal.

More likely than an appeal would be a motion for reconsideration or a motion to set aside the judgment based on excusable neglect or lack of jurisdiction or some-such. The tenant would have to come up with a pretty good excuse as to why he was not in court on the trial date. Something like a hospital admission form, showing that he was admitted to the hospital two days before and kept in hospital for a week; or that he was arrested and in lock-up; or that he was never served (hard to argue with a straight face when the Sheriff did the service). But he needs to come up with a good excuse. (Although how good an excuse depends on your judge. Some judges are so pro-tenant that "I overslept that morning" might be enough.)

But don't worry about it until and unless you get a call or a letter or a notice.

The tenant says that he was not served the papers. He was out of town for few days. The Sheriff came looking for him two times and the thrid time the Sheriff handed over the notice to his roommate. Because the Tenant did not answer in 7 days, a Writ is issued. There was no court date set as Tenant did not answer.

Alex, sounds like your tenant got proper service from the sheriff.

Now you need to find a private service to execute the writ.

These private services have off duty deputies serve the writ and stand by while a moving crew moves the tenants personal property onto the lawn for scavenger removal.