And if he persists, I'll just walk away and make him file again. In an interview at his 309 S. 3rd St. office, Gronauer admits that his philosophy on how to treat people stems from a personal history with some of the same dire straits facing many of the people he has to kick out. And he employs the same tact with those equally resistant, but richer, debtors who have to pay for a loss in court. Well, I'm always a gentleman with them, because they're going to pay me anyway. Nowadays, the office is self-funded, meaning that not a nickel of taxpayer money covers any of its operation.
Revenue comes from a service fee attached to every paper served or eviction enforced.
That's not much if you only have a few every month. But in Las Vegas, there are never just a few collections or evictions. Gronauer takes a deep breath before reciting the figures. In October of 2000, for instance, his deputies served roughly 2,100 court documents and enforced 3,000 evictions. Gronauer asks, exasperated.