This toolkit tells you what you need to know if you may be evicted because your landlord wants to take back possession of your home. This means your landlord wants to stop renting to you. This may happen if your landlord thinks you broke your lease, wants to end a month-to-month rental agreement, or thinks you have stayed after your lease ended. This might also happen after a foreclosure. This toolkit is not right for you if you live in subsidized housing, or if you are being evicted from a mobile home park.
For general information about what to do if you are facing this kind of eviction, read the Articles. Read the Common Questions if you have a specific question. If you received a complaint and are facing eviction, or if you have been defaulted in an eviction case, use the Forms link to prepare your forms. Use the Checklist below to make sure you follow all the steps in the process. Go to Courts & Agencies for information about the court or agency that will handle your case.
You'll find links to legal aid offices and lawyer referral services under Find A Lawyer. If there is a Self-Help Center in your area you can get more help there. If you need something other than legal help, look in Community Services. If you need a fee waiver, an interpreter, a court to accommodate your disability, or more information about going to court, visit Going to Court.
Common Questions
You could be evicted for doing something that violates your lease or the law, such as:
- Not paying your rent
- Creating a serious and continuing health hazard in or near your home
- Causing extensive damage to your home or property
- Using the home for illegal drug activity
- Moving into the property without the owner’s permission
- Staying in the property without the owner’s permission
You could also be evicted if any of the following happen:
- The lease ends
- You have a month-to-month lease or no lease
- The redemption period after a mortgage foreclosure of the home you own ends
Read Eviction: What Is It and How Does It Start? to learn more about why you could be evicted.
If you got a Notice to Quit, your landlord wants you to move out.
You can move out by the deadline on the Notice to Quit, or you can wait for your landlord to evict you. Read the article Eviction to Recover Possession of Property to learn more about this kind of eviction.
You can’t legally be forced to leave your home before there is a judgment issued by the court, the landlord applies for and gets an eviction order and the sheriff’s office executes an eviction order. But if you go to court, you risk having to pay additional court costs and fees if you lose.
Yes. You and your landlord can work out an agreement or resolution anytime before you go to court. If you can’t resolve it yourselves but don’t want to go to court, you might be able to use mediation and work with a neutral third party to reach an agreement.
If you and your landlord reach an agreement after the complaint has been filed, you can put the details in writing in a dismissal. Both you and your landlord need to sign it.
If you do reach an agreement, contact the court to see if you still need to go to the hearing to tell the court about your agreement. If you don’t do this, you could end up with a default judgment against you, which could lead to eviction.