How to Serve an Eviction on your Rental Property

One of the hardest aspects about being a professional landlord is dealing with your tenants.

No one wants to be in the position where they have to evict. After all, isn’t your ultimate goal to find the perfect tenant to maintain your rental property?

Sometimes you don’t have that choice. And sometimes the best way to help your property investment succeed is to find a new tenant.

So if you are ever confronted with this dilemma we can help you to overcome it by following a few simple rules.

Remember - with all evictions you must have a reason to begin the process or at least a date of notice in which they must leave, otherwise you won’t be able to continue.

Basic facts to property evictions

The first step to terminating a tenancy is to give your tenants adequate written notice. This cannot be a letter written by yourself, but must be an official form stating when and why you want to evict them.

Only then once you have given your tenant notice can things proceed.

The notice itself will contain a deadline (the deadline is determined by the type of contract you have used with your tenant) – traditionally between 1-3 months. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on your reason.

In this period if they do not amend their ways or move out before the notice period ends, you as their landlord can file a lawsuit to evict them.

Sounds simple. And in some ways it can be as long as you can prove that there is a legitimate reason for their eviction.

Every state has a very detailed set of requirements for landlords who want to end a tenancy, so make sure you are up to date with the laws of your area, and you’ll be fine.

Although the terminology can vary, there are 3 basic types of termination that you must be aware of:

Pay rent or Quit Notices: are typically given out when the tenant has not paid the rent. These give your tenant just a few days to pay the rent or move out.

Cure or Quit Notices: these are probably the most common, and are usually given out when a tenant violates a part of their contract. This can vary from a no pet policy to excessive noise. If your tenant breaks proceeds to break one of these conditions – and is stated in the contract – you can give them this type of notice.

This will only take affect though if you give your tenant a set time to amend this break in their contract. And if they don’t, you will be free to ask them to leave.

Unconditional Quit Notices – these are the harshest of them all. Here your tenants are ordered to vacate the property with no chance to pay the rent owing or correct the lease violation.

To use these types of notices, the tenant must have:

-repeatedly violated a significant lease or rental agreement clause
-been late with the rent on more than one occasion
-seriously damaged the property
- been engaged in a serious illegal activity whilst on the premises, such as drugs.

Termination without cause

There is an alternative. An alternative that can be simpler in the long run: giving a set fixed length of notice.

If you would simply like to terminate your rental agreement with your tenant, and there is no actual cause or reason for doing so, as long as you give them notice you can give them:

A 30 or 60 day vacate notice – this can be used in many areas, as long as you abide by the law/ rules of that area.

However in some places there are ‘Rent control exceptions’ that go beyond the law and require you to provide a legal reason for ending the tenancy agreement.

And finally,

Eviction Lawsuit – the last and final stage where you can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

If your tenant has not moved out of your rental property within the required time, you can serve them with a summons and complaint for eviction. Unless they have a reasonable argument for why they should not be evicted, they must then pay immediate notice and leave.

And that’s it! By simply keeping your eye firmly fixed on the law, if you ever find you need to evict your tenant, you can do so by following this simple guide. It’s that straight-forward.

Property Investment
rental property