Power of attorney question; I’m an out of state landlord.?
March 30th, 2011 | 
Author: I’m at the very beginning of the eviction process on my tenants for non-payment of rent. My rental home is in Michigan, and I live in Texas. If this progresses along to the point where I need to appear in court for a judge to issue the Judgement, can the person I’ve granted POA to for this matter go in my place? I’m not hiring an attorney for this matter; I’m following all the legal procedures on my own and representing myself. This is a pretty cut and dry situation. No rent was paid, end of story.
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
You can grant anyone Power of Attorney to act for you in any specfied matter. An “Attorney” is someone who represents you; it does not have to be a lawyer. A lawyer and an attorney are two entirely different things. So you can grant any person power of attorney to act for you in this rental case, and they have complete power in that matter to make any and all decisions as you, and to sign any and all documents on your behalf as power of attorney. A lawyer need not enter into the picture at all.
If you have a legal power of attorney designated, they can represent you in court. You could still lose however. Nothing is ever cut and dried in a courtroom. If you have been given a summons to appear in court, you should go.
I believe so. I’m not sure about Michigan law, but in Texas you can do this. So long as you have a valid POA that is signed and notarized, then you should be able to delegate this authority to the person in Michigan. Just make sure that the POA has a well defined and limited scope (to represent you in the eviction proceedings of 123 Fake St…)