What happens if you get an eviction notice

In many cases, an eviction notice is issued for failure to pay rent. Once the matter goes to court, the landlord still must win the case and obtain a court order to legally evict you. After the eviction case ends up in court, there are a few ways you can defend yourself, according to Legal Assistance of Western New York.

For instance, if your case involves nonpayment of rent, some of your defenses are:. If the judge or jury rules in your favor, then the eviction case against you will be thrown out and you can stay in the apartment. If you do wind up getting kicked out of your apartment, remember that the eviction will be part of your rental history, making it much more difficult to rent another apartment.

An eviction normally stays on your rental record for seven years, according to Experian , a credit-reporting bureau. Are you stuck with an eviction on your record? While getting evicted can make it more difficult to rent an apartment in the future, ApartmentSearch may be able to help you find your next apartment AND get paid for doing so. Start your hunt for a new apartment on the only apartment locator site that pays you for using it, regardless of your rental history!

Apartment Life , Moving. A verbal eviction notice is generally not legal. Keep your eviction notice. The Eviction Notice is not the same thing as a court order. Your landlord cannot legally evict you until they get a court order allowing the eviction. If you live in a rooming house, these rules may not apply to you. Learn more in Hotels, Motels, and Rooming Houses. If your landlord tries to evict you without getting a court judgment , call the police.

Call Pine Tree Legal if the police won't help. Your landlord cannot legally change the locks, shut off your utilities, or try to keep you out of your home without going to court first. At the end of the time period given in your Eviction Notice usually 7 days or 30 days , your landlord can file court eviction papers. You landlord must have the Deputy Sheriff serve you with a Summons and Complaint. The officer must make a good faith effort to deliver the papers in hand at least 3 times on 3 different days.

If that doesn't work then the landlord may mail you the notice and leave a copy at your residence where you are likely to find it such as posting on your door. Then the landlord must file an affidavit with the court swearing to the steps they have taken to notify you. If you live in Maine, call Pine Tree Legal right away if you get these court eviction papers and you want legal help. The court papers will tell you the date and time of your eviction hearing.

If you want to fight the eviction you must go to court. In court you may ask your landlord questions, bring your own witnesses and exhibits photos, for example , and explain your side of the story.

Make sure you bring any court papers you have, as well as your lease or rental agreement, if you have one. Your landlord can go to court to try to evict you even if you think your landlord is wrong. You can be evicted even if it is winter or even if you have a disability, or if you have children or you have nowhere to go.

It is up to the court, not your landlord or Pine Tree Legal, to decide if you can be evicted. If you go to court and lose, you have the right to appeal. If you lose and do not appeal, after seven days you will be served with a "Writ of Possession" by the Deputy Sheriff. This is the eviction order of the court. You then have 48 hours to move out. If you know for sure that you will be moving before a "Writ of Possession" will be issued see the steps above , then the legal eviction process may not affect you.

You may want to tell the landlord of your plans to save them the trouble of going to court to get an eviction order. Be sure of your plans to move before you decide to ignore the court eviction hearing. If you do not go to court the judge will generally issue a default judgment against you. It is too late to fight the eviction after a court judgment has been entered against you.

The landlord does not have to agree to this. Remember that you already have 7 days after the court hearing before a "Writ of Possession" can issue. So if you settle, you should get more than 7 days after the court date.

Once you have agreed to a date, make sure you go to court and then tell the judge what your agreement is. The the landlord can ask the police to enforce the writ 48 hours later.

It will be too late to change your mind after the judge has approved the agreement, so make sure you understand what you are agreeing to. If you come to an agreement before the court date then you can use this Agreed Judgment form to protect your rights, and to let the judge know about your agreement. This is an interactive form; you can fill it out online, then print.

Or print and then fill out by hand. Go here if you need help with downloading the form. Fill out the form and file it with the Court, or bring it with you to your court hearing. Write the move out date you have agreed to on the last line of this form. It is not a good idea to have just an oral agreement with the landlord and skip the court hearing. You need to be in court to protect your rights and to make sure that the written agreement is given to the judge.

If you have broken anything, check your terms of agreement and your degree of responsibility for the damage, and how you plan to compensate.

You can do these actions to stop the eviction, but any agreement you have decided on with your landlord should be put in writing, as well as signed and dated by both parties.

If the lawsuit against you has been filed due to non-payment of rent, you must be able to prove that you do not owe your landlord ten non-payment of rent; otherwise, the lawsuit will move on. You still can stay in your rental property. Remember that an eviction can only happen after a court order has been issued.

You can stop your eviction from the non-payment of rent if you pay your rent. One thing you can do is to pay the rent for the accrued non-paid days. Avoid paying in cash, but if you do, make sure that you get a receipt. Remember that there are no exceptions to the non-payment of rent. People with young children who have experienced a sudden loss of job or have suffered from other unexpected tragedies are not exempted from paying rent properly. Also, unmade repairs, complaints against the landlord, or money your landlord owes you is not a valid reason for non-payment of rent.

Leaving is an option. If you have been served an eviction notice, the eviction lawsuit would naturally come next. To avoid lawsuits, some tenants choose to leave. However, the landlord may still file a lawsuit or get a collection to get the money if tenants fail to give them the amount they owe.

Many rental agreements have a due date, and some even have a grace period, usually stretching to three to five days. If you have failed to pay after this grace period, your landlord can serve you a day pay or vacate notice and even issue you penalty fees.

Paying your rent and not getting a receipt for it can leave you vulnerable to claims that the money has never been received or has been lost.

The best way to pay for your money is through a personal check or money order. You should photocopy the money order before you separate it from the stub to make sure you have proof.

When you pay in cash, you should secure a receipt from your landlord. If you think your eviction is wrongful, you can also get a third-party witness to testify that you have paid the rent and that it was received aside from presenting the necessary documents.