Eviction: Rights and Responsibility of Landlords and Tenants

We are seeing the economy play havoc with a lot of people's lives. Everyone seems to be impacted one way another. Homeowners are losing their homes in record numbers to foreclosures. Despite the best efforts of various programs to slow down the foreclosures it does not appear to be working. Not only are the homeowners feeling the brunt of this recession but the renters are feeling the pinch as well.

There are a lot of renters who face eviction even though they have paid their rent on time because the property owner has not paid the mortgage. There are others of course who have not paid on time and are being evicted for that reason. When it comes to eviction and relations between the tenant and landlord there are certain rules and guidelines that must be followed.

If a landlord wants to evict you they have to go to court to prove that you did something worthy of being evicted. This is the first step otherwise they cannot proceed with the eviction lawsuit. The landlord has to give you written notice which is called terminating the tenancy, before they can file the eviction lawsuit. Each state has their own time frames and rules and regulations when it comes to evictions, termination notices and when and how the papers are served.

If you are being evicted you may want to check with an attorney to see if there is anything that you can do. After you receive a notice which terminates the tenancy you have to be served with a summons and complaint and there is a particular manner in which this should be done. This allows the landlord to continue with the eviction. If everything is in order then the landlord will probably win the eviction lawsuit if you have not put in for a counter suit.

Once the landlord wins the lawsuit they then must contact the law enforcement in the area and turn over the judgment to them. It will be up to law enforcement to provide you with a notice which states they will return in a couple of days and have you removed from the premises.

Prior to this you can file a counter claim if you feel the landlord was unjust such as not repairing the unit or perhaps he had the windows on your apartment taken out to make it uncomfortable for you prior to winning the judgment. Some landlords will even change the locks and make it unbearable for a tenant. In cases such as these the tenant can file a counterclaim and possibly win some type of monetary judgment or award.

Source: http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/pg/2/objectId/6D164165-C439-45B9-9FED82FC4701FD40/catId/F952FED3-0C94-4431-862E21322CCD72B6/104/138/305/ART/