Primer: Eviction For Non-Payment Of Rent.
Your state might have peculiar laws. This lecture is based on general "common law" principles.
Although a lease contains a solemn promise by the tenant to pay rent, sometimes a tenant fails to honor his or her written commitment. This often places the landlord in a predicament, because the landlord still has his own commitments, such as mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, insurance, ...
Typically, when a tenant ("T") fails to pay rent when due under the lease, the landlord ("L") may give the T a written Notice To Pay Rent Or Quit. This written notice says, in essence: You have a choice, pay me $____ within the next ___ days, or get out! When the L may give this notice varies from state to state – some states allow it to be served on the 2nd of the month, others give the T a grace period. Check your local laws.
Service requirements vary from state to state. Exact wording requirements vary from state to state.
The effect of partial payment varies from state to state. If a L accepts a partial payment after serving a Notice To Pay Or Quit, it might invalidate the Notice. Depends on your state's laws.
If the T does not pay and does not vacate, the L's next step is to file something with the local court. So far, the court has not been involved. This filing is often called an Unlawful Detainer Complaint, or a Petition For Writ Of Possession, or a Request For Summary Eviction. This gets filed with the Court and served on the T AND ALL OTHERS IN POSSESSION (preferably by the Constable or Marshal). The Court will normally set a hearing date. On the hearing date, you go to Court, present the lease and testify that the rent has not been paid. The tenant comes in and complains that the place is uninhabitable, that the __ is broken, that the ___ isn't working, that vermin have taken over, that they need more time to pay the rent, that they got laid off, that the government isn't helping them like it should, and "think of the children, you can't throw them out into the street!!"
If you live in a decent jurisdiction, the judge issues an order to the Sheriff to throw the tenant (and all other persons in possession) out – called a Writ of Possession, or a Writ of Eviction, or ... You schedule this with the Sheriff, and you have your locksmith on call, to change the locks as soon as the Sheriff has removed the T.
If you live in a "liberal" jurisdiction, the bleeding-heart judge listens to the nonsense and gives the T an extension of time to vacate, usually conditioned on payment of rent, but the judge isn't there to see if the rent is then paid.
Many states separate the claim for possession from the claim for past due rent. So you need to sue twice, once to get the T thrown out and once for the money you are owed.
If you are not experienced in this, you need a good eviction attorney to do it for you. If you don't have one, you might be able to get a referral from someone on this forum. Otherwise, I suggest you go to your local eviction court and watch the attorneys in action. Look for someone who knows what he is doing, who seems competent, who is on good terms with the court staff and the judge. If you are lucky, you will see two or three of these lawyers. Get business cards and talk to them. You want a FLAT FEE eviction lawyer to handle this for you.
Good luck!
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