If you fail to comply with any portion of a rental contract, there is a chance that your landlord may try to evict you. However, there is a process that a landlord must go through before you are obligated to vacate the premises. Therefore, it could be several days, weeks or months before you need to be in a new home or apartment.
The eviction process depends partially on the agreement you have
If you don’t have a formal lease with a tenant, you are likely deemed to be on a month-to-month arrangement. In most cases, a landlord can evict such a tenant without cause. This means that you could be asked to vacate for any reason as long as you are given 30 days to find a new place to live. However, if you have a formal lease, evictions without cause are generally prohibited.
The process of evicting a tenant with cause
In the event that a landlord has cause to evict a tenant, he or she will likely send out a cure or quit notice. This gives you a few days to either get current on back rent or take steps to come into compliance with other lease terms.
You may choose to dispute the notion that you are in violation of any lease terms. In response, your landlord may choose to file a lawsuit to remove you from a rental property. The lawsuit is typically heard within several weeks of being filed.
If the judge rules against you, you’ll likely have one to four weeks to find a new place to live. However, it is possible that a judge could enforce the eviction as soon as the trial is over.
While a landlord does have the right to evict tenants from his or her property, tenants have rights that must be respected as well. Legal representatives may be able to help those who are going through evictions or who are otherwise trying to resolve disputes with their landlords.
