The Eviction Process

No matter how many loud parties a tenant organizes or how much rent is due, a landlord can not use self-help techniques to evict a tenant, such as changing the lock or turning off the electricity and water. A landlord who does that could be liable for damages and some states have penalties including damages inside the amount of a couple of months rent.

A landlord who wants to evict a renter will need to stick to the relevant state and local laws to the letter, dotting each and every i and crossing each t. The process of eviction can be a extremely fast 1 compared to other kinds of legal actions. The trade off is that the landlord must do everything exactly right. If the landlord makes mistakes in giving eviction notices, for instance, the later eviction case will be thrown out and the landlord will have to start once more.

The initial thing as landlord has to do to begin an eviction is to end the tenancy. This is done by giving an eviction notice. You will find a number of kinds of notices a landlord may use:

* Nonpayment of rent: If the tenant doesnt pay the rent when it is due, the landlord can serve a notice that the rent is due and give the tenant a specific time (generally 3-5 days) by which to pay the rent (and any late fees especially listed in a written rental agreement) or move out. If the tenant pays the full amount within the time stated, there may be no eviction on that notice.

* Fixing a violation: In some states a landlord can give a tenant a notice to fix some violation of a rental agreement, including a junk car in the front yard, a pet thats forbidden by the lease, or a lot more folks living in the unit than is allowed in the agreement. The notice need to state the quantity of time the tenant has to correct this. For instance, state law may give the tenant 5 or 10 days. If the tenant corrects the violation within the time, there might be no eviction on that notice.

* Unconditional notice: In some states a landlord may give a notice for a tenant to move without any possibility of correcting something. In most locations this can only be completed if the tenant has seriously violated the rental agreement. For example, if the tenant has repeatedly been late with the rent, is growing marijuana within the back room, or has caused significant damage to the premises. The time given to move depends on state law. If the tenant has completed what the landlord claims, he or she should move or be evicted.

* 30-day or 60-day notices: In most states a property manager can give an eviction notice for a tenant to move with out giving any kind of explanation. The time allowed under state law pertaining to this type of notice is typically 30 or 60 days, however it could be as short as 20 days or as lengthy as 90 days. There might be diverse time periods if the tenant has lived in the unit for a long time, can be a senior citizen or disabled, is receiving federal housing assistance, or if the reason for the eviction can be a condo conversion. A landlord cant give this type of notice to a tenant with a lease until the lease period is over. He or she also cant give such a notice for illegal factors like discrimination or retaliation against a tenant for reporting violations or insisting on repairs. This kind of notice might also be forbidden in places with rent control or rent stabilization laws. Some states or cities need landlords to pay relocation expenses in some circumstances, like to senior citizen or disabled tenants or for units that are being converted to condos.

At the finish of a notice period, when the renter has not corrected the situation (like paying the rent or discovering a new home for the cat) or moved out, the landlord can file an eviction action in the local court. The action has to be served in a way defined by the law on the tenant by somebody other than the landlord. Check the law to ensure papers are served properly. If they arent, the court wont permit an eviction.

After receiving eviction papers the tenant has a chance to answer. The amount of time for the tenant to respond to will be on the written documents which are served. An answer must be in the form required by the local court rules and state law, so a tenant might get support with drafting an answer. This is the time for the tenant to raise defenses for example that no rent is owed since the tenant properly deducted the quantity of needed repairs from the rent, the landlord didnt give correct notice of a rent increase, a rent improve was for the purpose of illegal discrimination, or a 30-day notice was given simply because the tenant reported a well being code violation inside the unit.

If the tenant doesnt file an answer with the court, the court will enter what is called a default judgment for eviction if the landlord can show that the court papers had been served properly on the tenant. The tenant may possibly have a default judgment set aside if there was a good reason why he or she wasnt able to answer on time.

If the tenant raises a valid defense, the case is going to be set for a hearing or trial on the facts. This is the time for the tenant to produce proof, which includes inadequate notices given by the landlord and letters written by the tenant.

If the court rules that the landlord can evict the tenant, the landlord still cant change the locks. The landlord must take the court order to the sheriff along with the sheriff will come and post a notice, generally on the tenants door, telling the tenant that if she or he doesn’t move out by the date and time given, the sheriff might come and remove the tenant as well as the tenants belongings from the unit.

The whole eviction procedure can take as small as 20 days if the landlord does everything proper along with the tenant has no defense, to many months if the tenant raises a valid defense that has to go to trial.