How to Evict Someone Who Doesn't Pay Rent
No one likes to contemplate evicting a tenant. However, when you're a landlord, you have to prepare for the possibility. If a renter can't meet his obligations, you have a legal right to evict him and can have those rights enforced under the law if you require it. One always hopes that an eviction will proceed as calmly and painlessly as possible. You can take steps to ensure that this is the case.
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Instructions
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1
Include grounds for eviction in the rental agreement your tenant signs. Ensure that the ground rules are firmly laid out. Once he signs it, he is agreeing to abide by those rules.
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2
Put together the documents you need to support your case. That includes your copy of the rental agreement, subsequent modifications, canceled checks, and copies of any written warnings or alerts you sent your tenant.
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3
Prepare a formal eviction notice to deliver to your tenant. Include a set amount of time by which he needs to leave, along with a promise of legal action if he refuses to comply. You can formally define the notice in one of several ways: a Notice to Pay Rent means that the tenant is in arrears as far as rent goes; a Notice to Vacate is a catch-all to cover any part of the rental agreement which the tenant violates (such as smoking when the agreement specifically forbids it); and a Notice to Vacate for a Nuisance covers tenants who make loud noises or cause undue damage to the property.
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Deliver two copies of your notice to the local Clerk of the Court's office and pay the filing fee required to file it. Include copies of any corroborating documents you collected in Step 2. The Clerk will provide you with a formal summons to deliver to the tenant, along with a spare copy for your records. You can find the address of your local Clerk of the Court by consulting the home page of your state or county government. Your local phone directory should also include the address.
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Contact your county sheriff's office or a private process server. They will officially serve the summons to your tenant and complete the return of service portion on the back of it.
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Returned the summons to the Clerk of the Court once the sheriff or process server has served the summons and filled it out. Once it's filed and a court date is set, the wheels are officially in motion.
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Be ready for the tenant to file a counterclaim. He might not, but--if he doesn't want to be evicted--he can do so before the court date. Alternately, he can wait for the court date and argue his case then. Assuming the court rules against him, he is legally obligated to depart the premises; the sheriff can formally evict him if he refuses to comply within the time period set by the court.
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Tips & Warnings
Formal rental agreements make this process go much more easily. If you don't have a formal rental agreement, you can still file an eviction notice--a Notice to Terminate Tenancy--but it becomes more difficult to prove your case in court.
