Knowing how to evict a tenant starts with understanding the law and knowing when and the way to send the proper eviction notice. You can evict your tenant yourself, or you can hire legal help. For an eviction to work the first time, though, the most necessary part is ensuring you complete do the process lawfully.
Landlord-tenant laws vary by state. You need to grasp your state laws as a result of which will dictate what you can legally do once evicting a tenant. These laws can assist you in setting up how the eviction method proceeds. Beware, however, that you should never try to evict somebody without involving the courts because a do-it-yourself eviction is not a legal possibility.
As a tenant, to evict you from your rental lease, your landlord should first provide you adequate notice, commonly in writing. That must conform to certain formalities. At this time, you have some options:
- You can follow the eviction notice and move out.
- You can fix whatever defect your property owner has complained regarding smoking, pets, late rent, etc.
- You can do nothing and still sleep in your lodging.
If you choose the last option, your landlord can file a case against you. Commonly it is known as an unlawful detainer suit, to keep the eviction procedure moving forward.
Tenant Eviction Notice for Cause
There are usually three different kinds of eviction notices. You may receive one if you have violated some part of your lease agreement or rental contract.
- First, there is a notice called “Pay Rent or Quit” notice. This can be essentially what it sounds like. Your landlord can generally offer you a range of days to pay rent that is past due. Usually, you will get between three to five days to pay rent, or “quit” the lease and move out.
- Second, “Cure or Quit,” notices are generally sent to tenants who have violated a condition or specific term within the lease agreement. In general, a tenant can have a certain amount of time in which to correct their bad behavior or leave the lodging.
- Lastly, there are “Unconditional Quit,” notices. They are the worst to receive. These notices offer no way for the tenant to correct any wrong and usually leave no doors open to keep the residency continued. Due to the harshness of those notices, state laws limit their use to certain, well-defined situations.
Tenant Eviction Notice Without Cause
For some reason, your landlord might ask you to vacate the property. Notwithstanding you have paid all of your rent on time and have not behaved in any way that may enable an eviction for cause. Eviction law still permits landlords to force you to move out, under certain circumstances. However, you want to be afforded some further protections.
First, for eviction notices, without cause, the landlord should provide you with an extended amount of notice to vacate, usually 30 or 60 days. This extended time is meant to permit you to search for another place to live.
Some state laws require a landlord to need to prove a lawfully recognized reason for the termination of the lease on rent-controlled flats. These statutes are known as “just-cause eviction protection,” and they are designed so that landlords can evict only for specific reasons.
When the Sheriff Comes for You
If the owner wins the eviction case against you, he or she cannot merely place your things on the road outside the place. Instead, the owner should wait for the sheriff’s deputies with the writ, pay a fee, and have the sheriff come back to get you out.
An Attorney Will Facilitate With Your Tenant Eviction Considerations
If you are facing eviction, it might feel like the landlord controls the situation. However, this is not the case. You have rights, and your landlord should follow specific procedures to follow through with an eviction. A local landlord-tenant law attorney will facilitate a review of your state of affairs and Court Enforce Your Rights to make sure that your rights are protected.
