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Law

How do I Respond to Eviction Papers?

Lainie Petersen
By Lainie Petersen
Updated May 17, 2024
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There are few things scarier than coming home to find eviction papers tacked to your front door. For most of us, our home is a place of security, and knowing that we might be forced to leave it can be very traumatic. If you receive eviction papers, it is extremely important that you respond appropriately. Reading the papers carefully, seeking legal advice, and negotiating with your landlord can be good, constructive ways of dealing with the threat of eviction, as are filing a response in court and attending your hearing.

In some places, the initial written notification of an eviction is not necessarily a legally enforceable order to leave. Your landlord may be required by law to give you a notice of his plans to evict you prior to actually filing for an eviction in court. The eviction papers may offer you a way to avoid eviction and remain in your home. For example, if you are late in your rent, the papers may give you a few days to pay up. If your landlord wants to evict you because of some violation of your lease rules, such as keeping a pet, you may also have some time to correct the situation. In any case, contacting your landlord to see if you can negotiate an alternative to eviction can be a good idea.

If your landlord is insistent on your moving out, your next step should be to seek legal advice. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact the legal aid clinics or tenant unions in your area to see if they can assist you. While they may not be able to provide you with your own attorney, they can help you to understand the eviction papers and prepare you for the possibility of going to court.

If your landlord does file an eviction case against you, you will likely be served, perhaps by the sheriff or a special process server, with a legal summons to the court hearing. The summons should advise you as to the date and time of the court hearing and may instruct you to file papers with the court. If leaving your home is not an option or you do not believe that your landlord has a good case against you, you may choose to fight the eviction rather than move out on your own. Be sure that you do this within the time frame stated by the eviction papers, or you may lose your chance to explain your side of the story to the judge.

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Discussion Comments

By Phaedrus — On Mar 01, 2014

@Ruggercat68, I had a bad tenant one time who clearly violated four or five terms of his lease, and I finally had to serve him with eviction papers. He took it all the way to the court date. I presented a copy of the lease agreement to the judge and showed pictures that clearly demonstrated the violations. The tenant tried to deny a few things, but the judge backed me up on the eviction. A sheriff's deputy supervised this tenant's moving day a month later. I'd say that if things have gotten to the point where eviction papers are necessary, the tenant should consider whether or not a legal fight is really beneficial. I wouldn't have renewed his lease anyway, so he probably needed to put his energy into finding a new place to live.

By Ruggercat68 — On Feb 28, 2014

I've been a landlord in the past, and I can honestly say I never wanted to evict any of my tenants, even those who fell behind on their rent or violated a minor rule like pet ownership. However, I had to follow the letter of the law, and part of that was the delivery of eviction papers. One tenant decided to vacate the premises immediately rather than go through any more legal processes. He knew he wouldn't be able to raise the delinquent rent money, so he just left the keys in my office and left.

Another tenant did try to negotiate with me about the eviction and we ended up working out a payment schedule he could afford. He was a good tenant, but he just got behind on a lot of payments, including rent. I'd say if someone is served with an eviction notice and he or she is on decent terms with the landlord, private negotiations should be the first remedy to pursue.

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