How to Evict a Mouse from Your Home

As a landlord, it's inevitable that, on occasion, you will have problems with a tenant. When a mouse moves into your property and you find that you are unwilling to enter into a landlord/tenant relationship with said vermin, your thoughts may immediately turn to eviction. How does one evict, though? According to the law, a landlord cannot simply order a tenant to vacate the premises. A landlord must follow certain procedures, as detailed in your state's Vermin Residential Landlord/Tenant Act. If a landlord does not strictly adhere to the guidelines as defined by the state's code, the landlord may find themself financially liable to the mouse tenant and/or unable to legally evict them.

First, identify a legal reason for evicting the mouse. Is the mouse pooping in your cupboards or chewing holes in your walls? In legal terms, this is called, "failing to keep the premises in a habitable condition" or "destruction or damage of rental property". Is the mouse making scrabbling and crunching noises at night? Here you may have a "noise disturbance" or "nuisance" that "diminishes the peaceful enjoyment of other tenants". Does your mouse operate a meth lab in your home? Clearly, your tenant is "conducting illegal or disallowed activities on the premises". It is important to have a legitimate reason to evict your tenant(s).

Once you have a legal reason for evicting your mouse tenant, you must provide the tenant with legal written notice of your intent to evict. Mice, as you may know, are very small and have poor eyesight. When providing your tenant with a written notice, it's important to print it in very small font. I recommend Arial .05. Most Vermin Landlord/Tenant Acts specify paper no larger than one inch by 3/4 of an inch, but check your state's guidelines to be sure. The next step is providing (or "serving") your mouse with the document. There are many ways of serving the mouse tenant with an eviction notice (certified mail, return receipt requested; private process server, etc.), but most landlords find it easiest to simply smear some peanut butter (creamy, not chunky) on the back of the eviction notice and stick it on a section of a baseboard known to be frequented by the mouse tenant. You will know that the mouse has seen and read the document when you find the paper on the floor with the peanut butter licked off of it.

Usually this is all that it takes to evict a vermin tenant. No mouse tenant wants to enter into a protracted and costly legal situation (and few mice have the financial resources to do so). There are occasions, however, when your tenant may choose to ignore your attempts to civilly resolve the problem tenancy. In these cases, you are allowed by law to take more dramatic action to remove your tenant.

Removing a tenant who refuses to comply with an eviction notice can be accomplished by "forcible detainer". There are different ways of successfully utilizing this method of tenant removal, but the most landlords agree that the most effective method is "the mousetrap". A "mousetrap" is a spring-loaded device that, when properly used, ensures that the tenant will indeed leave your property permanently. These devices are preferred for their efficacy and cost-effectiveness (mousetraps can be purchased at your local discount store or grocery for less than $2 for a pack of two or four). To lure your mouse tenant to the mousetrap, peanut butter (chunky or creamy) is again recommended. Please note that is not necessary to purchase a Mousetrap® game to evict your problem tenant- though it is indeed a more entertaining method of eviction, it is highly ineffective and much more costly at $16.99 per unit.

Using one or more of the above legal remedies will, in 99% of vermin tenant situations, resolve the situation. With a little care and the correct application of legal principles, you can rid yourself of some of the more troublesome aspects of involuntary property management and regain the peaceful enjoyment of your home.