lease termination rights q&A

WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS MY RENT PAYMENT?

If you miss a rent payment for too long and your landlord wants to start an eviction process, there are some steps they have to follow first.

1.Your landlord has to send you a notice to pay your rent within five days.

2. If you don’t pay within five days, they can start to file an eviction lawsuit.

3.You’ll get a copy of the eviction complaint and will be asked to show up to a court date for the lawsuit. If you want to fight your eviction, you have to show up to the court date. If you don’t show up, the landlord will win the case by default.

4. At the hearing, you’ll provide your defenses to the judge, who will then make a decision about whether or not the eviction still stands.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER REASONS I MIGHT FACE EVICTION? WHAT ARE THE RULES?

If you break one or more of the terms of the lease (for example, if you have a pet when your landlord says you can’t), you might be risking eviction. For cases where a tenant has broken a lease agreement, the landlord has to give a 10 day notice asking the tenant to leave the apartment. After 10 days, they are able to continue with steps 2 through 4 above.

If you have an oral lease (meaning it’s not written down), you landlord has to give you at least 30 days notice before asking you to leave.

WHAT IF I DON’T WANT TO GO TO COURT FOR AN EVICTION?

Going to eviction court can sometimes be inconvenient, risky, or expensive. There are lots of people who don’t want to deal with the process. We recommend working with your landlord BEFORE the court date to see if you can come to an agreement and avoid going to court at all. If you are nervous about talking to your landlord or your landlord is being unreasonable, a mediator might be a good option, and some are free or inexpensive! Nolo has more information on mediation, and if you want to find a list of resources, check out mediate.com or the American Arbitration Association.

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