One constant that all renters must deal with is a landlord. Most of the time, landlords are good and honest people, but sometimes, they are not. Let’s say you and a landlord have been having disagreements and they say they are going to evict you. Can they really do that?
The short answer is yes, but there is more to the story. The rules such as notice of eviction and other things vary from state to state, but the reasoning for the eviction remains fairly constant. Also, they cannot evict you themselves, they must bring a court proceeding and have a police officer actually carry out the eviction.
Rest assured, however, a landlord cannot simply evict you because they don’t like you or want you out. There are three different “notices” a landlord can give a tenant in terms of eviction:
1. Pay rent or move out
This notice will occur if you have not paid your rent. They will often give the tenant a few days to pay the rent and if not, you will be evicted or have to move out.
2. Correct violation or move out
This would be given to a tenant if the violate a term or condition of the rental agreement or lease. The landlord will normally give a short amount of time for the tenant to correct and fix the violation, and if not, they will be evicted.
3. Unconditional move out
This is basically the final straw and is given to tell the tenant to vacate the premises with no chance to pay or correct the violation. These are normally only allowed if the tenant has missed rent on numerous occasions, repeatedly violating terms of the agreement, engaged in illegal activities, or causing damage to the apartment or home.
As you can see, you will have ample time and notice to correct problems before you can be evicted. While many evictions by landlords are just, you may not think yours is. If you feel you were unjustly evicted for one reason or another, you can file a case against your landlord for intentional infliction of emotional distress. If you are successful in your lawsuit, you can collect damages and may even be able to stay in the unit. Of course, this should only be done if you truly feel the landlord has evicted you without cause or without sufficient notice.
So the answer to the question is yes, your landlord can evict you if they have a good reason for it, although you have to screw up pretty bad or ignore their concerns for a very long time before it is likely to happen.
