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Understanding the landlord-tenant relationship can be complicated. This article will walk you through the required steps for evicting a tenant in your state and provide some common mistakes landlords make when trying to get rid of tenants.
Many landlords are temporarily prevented from evicting residential and commercial renters because of the COVID-19 outbreak. If you were in the midst of eviction before the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020, you may still be able to complete the procedure. Below are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions (FAQs) concerning the COVID-19 moratorium and evictions.
While we encourage you to try to work out a plan with your tenants to help them get through this difficult time, if the rent moratorium is lifted, or if tenants are willfully disrupting the quiet enjoyment of other tenants, damaging your property, or violating the lease in ways other than failure to pay rent, you may be forced to file an eviction. Understanding your state’s landlord-tenant regulations is the first step in learning how to evict a tenant.
1. Familiarize yourself with your state’s landlord-tenant laws.
The regulations governing landlord-tenant relationships differ from state to state. The eviction rules in your state will determine what you may lawfully do to remove a renter. Never attempt to evict someone without first consulting a lawyer. A do-it-yourself (DIY) eviction, which involves changing locks, placing renters’ things on the street, and threatening or coercing them, is unlawful in most jurisdictions. There are federal and state rules that affect your capacity to evict during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Where Can I Look for Landlord-Tenant Laws?
Consult a real estate attorney in the state where you want to rent your home. Your state landlord-tenant laws may typically be found on your state’s “.gov” website under landlord-tenant laws or housing laws, or you can use our state-by-state interactive map if you decide to pursue an eviction without paying a lawyer.
The National Homes Law Project discusses which types of housing are covered under federal law in relation to COVID-19 eviction legislation. If you don’t fit into one of the categories, don’t think your property is exempt. State laws fill up the gaps where federal eviction moratorium provisions finish, so you’ll need to verify with your state.
2. Look through your lease agreement.
In most jurisdictions, if your tenant has signed a month-to-month tenancy at will agreement, you may dismiss them swiftly if you provide them a written 30-day notice to depart. Typically, the 30-day notice must be issued at least 30 days before the first day of the next month. If you provide a 30-day notice on April 30, for example, your renter has until May 30 to depart the property. The renter has until June 30 if you deliver the 30-day notice on May 15. In certain places, you don’t have to present a cause for evicting someone who has given you a 30-day notice to vacate.
Rent arrears are handled differently than other lease infractions. In certain areas, you may issue a Quit Notice for Failure to pay rent, stating that they must vacate within a few days to two weeks. If they’re in a long-term lease, they’ll have to break the rules in order for you to give them notice to leave.
If a renter breaks the conditions of a long-term lease, you may give them a 30-day notice and take them to court. If they stopped paying rent, you’d have to give them the notice to vacate depending on how long state rules allow for eviction for failure to pay rent, and you’d have to go to court.
The following are some examples of lease breaches to include in your rental agreements:
- Failure to pay rent
- Illegal behavior
- Causing annoyance to other tenants and neighbors
- Other individuals who are not on the lease are being moved into the apartment.
- Pets that have not been authorized
- Damage to property
Maintain Landlord Responsibilities Before Evicting Tenants
The lease spells out both the tenant’s and the landlord’s responsibilities, so be sure you’re not breaking the conditions by failing to maintain the apartment secure, in excellent shape, and pest-free. In most states, a guarantee of habitability is implicit. A landlord must offer appropriate heat, and hot water, and be free of vermin, according to the guarantee of habitability.
3. Send a Notice of Eviction
An eviction notice is a formal request by a landlord to a tenant to leave the rented property. The notice must be served by a sheriff or constable in several states. The notification is served via certified mail in other states. Request a return receipt from the postal service if you send the letter via certified mail. Because a return receipt demands a signature, you’ll know that the notification was received by someone in the home.
A renter is not automatically evicted after receiving an eviction notice. Every eviction notice gives the renter a certain length of time to “cure”—pay the past due rent, end the lease violation, or face formal eviction litigation in housing court.
You may file a formal eviction with the housing court after the time limit on the eviction notice ends (from three to 30 days, depending on the state and the kind of eviction notice). After you win the eviction lawsuit, some jurisdictions allow you to give the renter up to 10 days to vacate the premises. If the renter refuses to leave, you may be forced to have them taken by a sheriff and their possessions stored, which you may have to pay for.
Rent must be paid or you will be evicted.
If your tenant stopped paying rent, a Rent must be paid or you will be evicted. might be enough to get them to start paying rent again or leave on their own before having to go to court. The notice gives the tenant the option to pay the past due rent owed to avoid further eviction proceedings. If your tenant pays, you may be able to skip the eviction process entirely. In some states, tenants only get this option once. If their rent is late in the future, you can evict them for nonpayment, even if they pay the past due rent.
The Cure or Quit Notice
If your tenant is continually disturbing neighbors, damaging your property, or conducting Illegal behavior on the premises, you can give the notice to comply or vacate the unit. A notice to cure or quit is often given to tenants who have violated their lease terms in some way. It gives tenants the options of “curing” (stopping) the objectionable behavior that violates their lease terms or risks further eviction proceedings.
Quit Notice
A Quit Notice is an eviction notice that does not give the tenant any options to remedy the situation. It gives them a set amount of time to move out of the rental unit before the landlord begins eviction proceedings. While the time between sending a Quit Notice and starting eviction proceedings differs by state, from seven to 30 days, you always need to wait a set period of time after sending the Quit Notice before you can get a court date for the eviction.
4. Start the eviction process
Because it’s unlawful for landlords to take things into their own hands and change locks, turn off utilities, or physically remove a nonpaying tenant’s property, the courts are your sole option for eviction. To file for eviction, contact an attorney or go to your local housing court.
Should the eviction proceed to trial, your attorney will handle all of the necessary paperwork and follow the process from start to finish, defending you in court. If you represent yourself, it’s critical to have witnesses, written documentation of the infractions, and a copy of the lease signed by both you and the tenant. Eviction lawsuits are often lost by landlords who do not utilize leases or rental agreements, or who do not have any proof that the tenant has broken the lease.
The following documents should be brought before the housing court:
- The signed lease agreement (sometimes known as a tenancy at will arrangement)
- If your city or state demands it, you’ll need your renter’s license.
- Copy of the eviction notice delivered, together with evidence of services, such as a signed return receipt or sheriff’s copy
- Evidence of the infringement (photos of damage, emails, text messages, police reports, voicemails)
- A photo ID
You can’t serve the tenant or file the eviction until the COVID-19 eviction and rent moratoriums are removed, but it’s still a good idea to plan ahead. We hope you never have to use these materials, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Taking a Tenant to Court for Eviction
Once you file the eviction, you’ll be given a court date for your case to be heard. A court date usually is granted within 30 to 45 days from the time the eviction paperwork is filed. However, if there’s a backlog or holiday, it can take longer. This is why it is critical, outside of the coronavirus eviction moratorium, for landlords to act swiftly for lease violations and failure to pay rent.
The Court’s Process for Evicting Tenants
If you don’t have an attorney, you should attend a few eviction hearings in court to get a sense of how the process works. Unless your case is heard early, you may expect to spend the whole day in court. You have no say in where your case is placed on the docket, so prepare appropriately. Also, get there early.
The court will either rule in favor of the tenant or in your favor, or you may proceed to mediation to reach an agreement. If the court rules in favor of the tenant and the tenant owes behind rent, the judge will issue an order giving the renter time to pay them back rent or risk eviction again. If the court rules in your favor, the renter will be ordered to depart your rental property within a week or two.
5. Eviction Procedures
You’ll need the sheriff’s office to issue a notice to vacate if the court finds it in your favor and the renter doesn’t depart willingly within seven to ten days. They usually have 48 to 72 hours to depart after receiving this warning, or they may be violently removed. The sheriff will not relocate their possessions but will ensure that the renter vacates the premises. You may replace the locks and recover your home after the renter has left.
The procedure varies by state, but if the renter refuses to remove their goods, you may be forced to keep them at your cost. Because this, like so many other landlord-tenant legislation, is state-specific, we suggest that you consult an attorney who is familiar with your state’s landlord-tenant laws.
How Can You Protect Yourself From Bad Tenants?
Because this procedure may cost you a lot of time, money, and worry, you should take steps to reduce the likelihood of future problematic renters. While there’s no way to ensure you won’t have to evict a tenant in the future, there are several things you can do to assist avoid poor renters in the future, which all begin with tenant screening.
You may wish to outsource tenant background screening in the future to protect yourself from unscrupulous renters. MyRental and RentPrep are two tenant screening services that provide complete reports that include criminal activity, eviction and housing history, credit history, and job verification.
Cash for Keys
Some landlords trade “cash for keys” to avoid the eviction procedure. Rather than going through the eviction procedure, the tenant is given a cash settlement in exchange for returning the keys and vacating the apartment. There are benefits and drawbacks to exchanging cash for keys.
Pros
- Tenants depart on their own.
- It might be less expensive than going through the eviction procedure.
- Tenants may avoid having their credit ruined.
- You may demand that the apartment be cleaned and repaired, as well as that all renters’ things be removed.
- You may reclaim the property sooner than eviction and rent it to a qualifying renter.
Cons
- You may be generating “professional renters” who migrate from one landlord to the next, breaking the contract and expecting to be compensated.
- You could have ended up with this undesirable renter as a result of a cash-for-keys deal, and there are no court records of their bad conduct.
- They have the ability to sabotage or harm the unit.
If they agree to trade cash for keys, have them sign and date the lease termination form, which contains the cash for keys agreement’s terms. Include wording stating that they will not be able to take action against you after they have relocated. Your lawyer may advise you on how to phrase this. Before giving over cash and having them sign the agreement, be sure they’ve left and inspected the apartment.
FAQs
My renter has defaulted on his rent. During the COVID-19 epidemic, how long do I have to wait before I can evict?
Evictions of landlords with government-backed mortgages are prohibited in covered properties under the federal CARES Act. Beginning March 27, 2020, landlords who fulfill the federal requirements will be unable to pursue an eviction case in court or levy late fees for a period of 120 days. If the epidemic persists and the government extends the ban, this might change.
After the 120-day term, landlords must give a 30-day eviction notice, which means they can’t start eviction proceedings for another six months. It will take longer to file, get a court date, and attend court. If your property does not qualify under the federal CARES Act standards, you may explore the National Consumer Law Center’s state-by-state eviction moratorium database (NCLC).
Is the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or any other source of relief financing available to me as a landlord?
Landlords are not eligible for the PPP because the US Small Company Administration deems owning and managing investment property to be a passive business. You may, however, be qualified for a Disaster Loan for Economic Injuries (EIDL). If you match the SBA’s standards, EIDL loans may be up to $2 million secured and up to $25,000 unsecured. The government is no longer accepting new EIDL applications as of April 27. It’s unknown if EIDL financing will be renewed in the future. If you can’t pay your mortgage, you may be eligible for a foreclosure moratorium.
My renter stopped paying both their rent and their electricity expenses. I’m concerned that this may cause harm to my property. Is it possible to switch off utilities during a coronavirus outbreak?
During the new coronavirus outbreak, several states put moratoriums on electricity shutoffs for nonpayment. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has a State Response Tracker and a Map of Disconnection Moratoria that show which states are under a moratorium and which are postponing shutoffs voluntarily.
Because my renters quit paying rent, I don’t have a federally guaranteed mortgage and am unable to make payments. What options do I have?
If you can’t pay your mortgage because of the COVID-19 outbreak, call your loan servicer straight once to explore your alternatives. Although your loan is not covered by the federal CARES Act, federal authorities are pushing lenders to cooperate with customers who are unable to pay their mortgage due to COVID-19. For loans not guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, your state may have enacted a foreclosure moratorium.
Conclusion
You’ll almost certainly have to evict a tenant at some time throughout your landlord career. The goal is to make sure you take the proper measures and avoid getting yourself into legal trouble. To submit a legitimate and lawful eviction, you need to be familiar with your state’s landlord-tenant regulations and comprehend your lease.
