Eviction: The Basics

Nobody wants to evict a tenant but sometimes you may have to. You should know that eviction takes time, costs a small fortune and can take a long time. It is nearly always advisable to find another solution if you can.

Not everything a tenant does that bothers you constitutes grounds for eviction. Here is a short list of justifiable reasons:

• Non-payment of rent
• Non-compliance with terms of rental agreement
• Breaking the law on your property
• The terms of tenancy had ended and the tenant refuses to leave
• The tenant is making a major nuisance of themselves

If it becomes obvious that you must evict someone, get started right away because it doesn’t happen overnight.

If your tenants are doing something illegal on your property, you must call the police. Now while the police may arrest your tenants, they may not evict them; that is a separate legal process that you must pursue. Just because your tenant goes to jail, this doesn’t end their tenancy with you.

Before you evict someone you should try all other means available to resolve the problem. Some options are use of mediation or arbitration. If those methods fail, you have one last option. That is, you can make it easy for the tenant to leave your property voluntarily. This is especially helpful if you have evidence that they are conducting illegal activities on your property. Send you tenant a letter stating that you know what they are up to and offer to end their lease if the tenant agrees to vacate the premises. If they refuse to leave then you will need to proceed with eviction.

The rules vary from place to place but the general steps are pretty much the same. Make sure you find out what the specifics are in your area. Here is the short version of the steps you will need to take. It is very important for you to get a lawyer who specializes in evictions or who knows the process very well because a savvy tenant will know the law too and can prolong things if you make needless errors of process.

First you need to serve notice. You may need the Sheriff to deliver the notice so you can prove it was delivered properly. After the tenant has been served you can then initiate the eviction proceeding. This is court procedure that gives you the chance to state what the problem is and how much money the tenant owes you. It must be executed properly or could delay your process significantly. The court will request that the landlord and tenant appear in court on a specific date. The court will set a date for hearing the tenant’s defense. The next step will be for you to appear in court on that date. If you do not appear, the case may be dismissed. If the tenant does not appear you may win by default but not necessarily. If everybody does appear you must remain calm and professional. The judge will rule in favor of the landlord or not in favor. If the judge does rule in favor of the landlord then you will receive an order that gives you the right to evict your tenant. If the tenant tries to appeal, you may have to wait for that process to occur. You may then enforce the eviction of your tenant. Sometimes this means you will have to hire the sheriff who is required by law to provide a minimum amount of notice of eviction. Laws vary from place to place as far as what a landlord is required to do with an evicted tenant’s possessions. Make sure you know the law in your area.