Two men, being evicted, stand with their possessions on the sidewalk, circa 1910, on the Lower East Side of New York City. The Lower East Side is a Neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The City of New York

Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Landlord is the owner of a House, Apartment, Condominium, or Real estate which is rented or Leased to an individual or business

Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction is also known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among others. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Nevertheless, the term eviction is the most colloquially used in communications between the landlord and tenant.

Depending on the jurisdiction involved, before a tenant can be evicted, a landlord must win an eviction lawsuit or prevail in another step in the legal process. Landlord is the owner of a House, Apartment, Condominium, or Real estate which is rented or Leased to an individual or business In law a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a Court in which the party commencing the action the Plaintiff, seeks a legal or equitable remedy It should be born in mind that "eviction," as with "ejectment" and certain other related terms, has precise meanings only in certain historical contexts (e. This article is about the Common Law form of action For a fuller discussion of modern proceedings see Eviction. g. , under the English common law of past centuries), or with respect to specific jurisdictions. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority In present-day practice and procedure, there has come to be a wide variation in the content of these terms from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. One should not assume that all aspects of the discussions below will necessarily apply even in all states or other common law jurisdictions.

The eviction process

Flow Diagram of the Eviction Process in British Columbia, Canada

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Notice

One should remember that the procedures for evictions are established by state law (within the United States) and that, even within the United States, they vary from state to state, and can even vary within a single state, in different cities or counties. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C State law in the United States, is the Law of each separate U The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The following are general rules only.

Depending on the jurisdiction, if a tenancy is being terminated for cause, the landlord may be required to give the tenant a notice, commonly called a notice to quit or notice to vacate prior to instituting formal legal proceedings. The tenant may have a short amount of time (perhaps from 3 to 10 days) in which to correct the error. The most common causes for eviction include nonpayment of rent or a breach of the lease (such as keeping a pet when pets are not allowed). A pet is an Animal kept for companionship and enjoyment or a househeld animal as opposed to Livestock, Laboratory animals Working animals In some cases, again depending on the laws of the particular jurisdiction, a landlord may post an unconditional quit notice, meaning the tenant can do nothing to correct the error.

In some jurisdictions eviction proceedings may be commenced without cause if there is no tenancy or the lease is expiring, although further advance notice must be given (generally 1 to 3 months). In some areas, just cause eviction controls exist, making this type of eviction more difficult or illegal. Rent control ordinances or statutes may also affect a landlord's ability to terminate tenancy without cause. Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set Price controls on the Renting of residential housing Also, if the housing is subsidized by a housing program of the federal government, federal laws and regulations will also apply.

In most places, the guidelines for evictions due to non-payment of rent are different from those resulting from other causes, such as breach of lease. When the reason for eviction is due to causes other than rent, many places have laws requiring the tenant to be given a specified amount of time before moving, which may be, for example, 30 days following all court proceedings. But in the case of unpaid rent, eviction may occur within a few weeks (or less) following the due date for the rent. The exact amount of time is contingent upon the jurisdiction's guidelines and the load of cases in the jurisdiction's court system.

Summons and trial

If the tenant remains in possession of the property after the notice to quit has expired, the landlord then serves the tenant with a complaint. A summons (also in Britain known as a claim form) is a legal document issued by a court (a judicial summons) or by an administrative agency of government (an In general use a complaint is an expression of displeasure such as poor service at a store or from a Local government, etc This requires the tenant to appear in court. If the tenant does not file an answer or appear in court, the landlord can then file for a default judgment and wins automatically. An answer was originally a solemn assertion in opposition to some one or something and thus generally any counter-statement or defense a reply to a question or objection or a correct solution Default judgment is a binding Judgment in favor of the Plaintiff when the Defendant has not responded to a Summons or has failed to appear before In the tenant's answer, they may state their side of the story, and provide affirmative defenses, such as the landlord not making required repairs or the tenant not being given proper notice. An affirmative defense is a category of defense used in Litigation between private parties in Common law Jurisdictions, or more familiarly

When the answer is filed, a trial date is set. Eviction cases are often expedited since the issue is time-sensitive (the landlord loses rental income while the tenant remains in possession). If the judge sides with the tenant, the tenant remains in possession of the property, although any back rent due must still be paid. If the landlord wins, the tenant has a small window of time to move before the eviction takes place, generally less than a week, although the tenant can ask for a stay of execution if they need more time. A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgement

Right to redemption

In some jurisdictions, a tenant who has failed to pay rent is granted a right to redemption, unless otherwise specified in court documents. Right to Redemption would mean that the tenant may cancel the eviction and remain in the rented property by payment the full amount of rent due plus all other fees owed to the landlord allowable under the law.

In some of these jurisdictions, if the tenant continually fails to pays rent, resulting in the repeated filing of complaints by the landlord, the landlord may file for no right to redemption. This would mean that following an eviction trial, the case against the tenant would stand, and that the tenant could not remain in the property by payment of rent. The number of trials required before a landlord could make such a filing, even in jurisdictions so providing, varies by jurisdiction.

Removal from the property

The landlord obtains a writ of possession from the court and presents it to a law enforcement officer. In Law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial Jurisdiction. A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman) is a warranted employee of a Police force. The officer posts a notice for the tenant that the officer will return to remove the tenant from the property on a certain day. On that day, the officer may physically remove the tenant and any other people on the property if they are still there. Any possessions of the tenant still on the property may be put in storage for the tenant, or considered abandoned, depending on local laws. The term abandonment has a multitude of uses legal and extra-legal The property is then turned over to the landlord.

Self-help evictions

In most jurisdictions, an eviction may only take place under the auspices of a law enforcement officer or a representative of the law as defined by the jurisdiction's laws. A law enforcement officer (also called peace officer) in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly It is illegal in most places for the landlord to attempt to force the tenant off the property themselves, or to force them to move in other ways, such as shutting off heat or utilities, or changing locks. A public utility (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the Infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using A tenant facing such measures may sue the landlord or file a counterclaim against an existing eviction proceeding. A counterclaim is made by the Defendant to a civil proceeding, in a main action against the Plaintiff or against the plaintiff and other people

See also

• Ejectment
• Lease
• Quiet title
• The Registry

External links

• Nolo - Landlords and Property Management
• Tenant's Rights in eviction (CT)
• New York State housing rights guide
• The Anti-Eviction Campaign (South Africa)