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GREENSBORO — A year ago, a small claims case such as this routinely ended in an eviction order and a padlocking by a deputy sheriff. But with rental vacancies rising, these days it’s not so cut-and-dried.

The elderly man and his adult daughter, co-defendants in court Tuesday, last paid rent at Creek Ridge Crossing in July.

Guilford County Magistrate Michael James studied the numbers in the sheaf of folders on his bench in small claims court, where landlord requests for “summary ejection orders” made up 85 percent of the matters heard in the past year.

“You’re going to have to chisel this (back rent) down,” James told Jimmy Washington, who is on disability, then turned to the related matter of daughter Marina Washington, who said she had been laid off from her job.

“Sometimes it just gets to a point where it’s necessary to move,” the magistrate said. “But (the property manager) Mr. (Brandon) Michael has suggested that if you can come to an agreement, he will allow you to remain.”

After a spike in evictions a year ago when the Triad economy plunged and court clerks logged their busiest year ever with 21,607 small claims cases — the vast majority of these alleging nonpayment of rent — there was a drop in summary judgments by 1,500 cases this year.

The cause of the decline? It is hardly a brighter economic picture, with local unemployment holding at about 11 percent.

Clerk of Court staff who process the cases between Greensboro and High Point say property owners, trying to keep rental units occupied to make their own mortgage payments, appear less likely to have tenants evicted outright.

This week’s small claims docket, overwhelmingly landlord-tenant rent disputes, consisted of two types of matters.

Some property managers filed the orders at the earliest opportunity on the 11th of the month, the first hint that a tenant had fallen behind, as a kind of court-ordered mechanism to collect rent.

The other cases, including the elderly man and his daughter, involved tenants who were several months behind.

Either way, it was rare that a landlord intended to go through with an eviction of the premises, even when the magistrate expected that to be the case.

“The landlord just wants the money, and more often than not, the tenant wants to pay the money,” said James, who has worked as a magistrate for two decades, through two recessions.

“Sometimes, they would rather have them out of there, but these days, in these tight economic times, I don’t see that so much.”

Landlords, feeling the same squeeze as other merchants, say they try to be sympathetic to renters who have been dependable tenants in the past but now find themselves out of work.

“We try to give them the opportunity to get back on their feet, and 60 to 75 percent of them do,” said Bobby Akin, president of the Greensboro Landlords Association.

“It’s very sad. The economy is a lot tougher than where we were a year ago,” Akin said. “A year ago, there were more evictions. Now, there’s nobody waiting in line for that vacancy.”

Tenants who are unable to pay are more likely to make “midnight moves,” landlords say: There on Friday but gone Monday morning, avoiding court, a monetary judgment and the eviction process. Typically, they move in with relatives or friends.

According to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office , there is no shortage of padlocking cases, known as possession orders: As of Oct. 31, deputies received 5,507 orders this year. A supervisor said the orders typically slow during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and some cases end with tenants paying back rent at the last minute and staying on.

Given higher vacancies, landlords are more flexible, said Beth McKee-Huger of the Greensboro Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy agency:

“Some landlords are wondering if it’s better to kick everyone out if they’ve been good tenants in the past, and then have empty units that might get vandalized. At the same time, landlords can’t go on forever with no money coming in.”

An administrator with the Greensboro Human Relations Department, recognizing the volume of such cases going to small claims court, has proposed a Landlord-Tenant Dispute Program for Guilford County.

Going to court costs a $70 filing fee, plus $15 for the Sheriff’s Office to serve the court summons. Brandon Michael, the property manager from Creek Ridge Crossing, had multiple cases before the magistrate Tuesday, and he repeats this exercise every month.

Such costs can be deducted from the tenant’s security deposit assuming the landlord wins the case. But the landlords’ association supports an alternative to court, Akin said.

“Landlords were pretty much welcoming this,” said Robert Nunn of the Human Relations Department. “If somebody’s just not paying their rent, we could maybe work out some kind of payment plan without having to go to court.”

Following a meeting with Chief District Court Judge Joseph Turner last week, Nunn said the plan to run a voluntary mediation alternative through the UNCG Conflict Resolution Program would be reviewed by the magistrates to make sure it passes legal muster.

The program, also designed to mediate issues surrounding repairs, noise complaints, security deposit disputes and other landlord-tenant relations, could be phased in early next year.

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn @news-record.com