To file for eviction, you serve the tenant with a written notice, wait out the required notice period, file an eviction complaint with your local court, have the tenant formally served with the court papers, present your case at a hearing, and then request a writ of possession that the sheriff uses to remove the tenant. Start to finish, expect five weeks to four months and several hundred to a few thousand dollars in fees, depending on whether the tenant contests the case. Skip a step or get a technicality wrong, and the judge will dismiss your case and send you back to the beginning.
Confirm You Have Legal Grounds
“I want the tenant out” is not a legal ground. You need a recognized reason, and you need to be able to document it.
Nonpayment of rent is the most common. You should be able to produce a rent ledger showing dates and amounts owed, along with any communications you sent about the overdue balance. Lease violations are the next category: unauthorized occupants, property damage, prohibited pets, running a business out of a residential unit, or subletting without permission. Whatever the violation, tie it to a specific clause in the signed lease. Vague complaints about a “problem tenant” will not survive a hearing.
Illegal activity on the premises, such as drug dealing or manufacturing, is typically the fastest track. Some jurisdictions allow shortened notice periods or no cure period at all for criminal conduct, and police reports become your strongest evidence.
Serve the Written Notice
Before you can file anything with the court, you have to deliver a written notice to the tenant. This is not a formality. Courts will dismiss an eviction filed without proper notice regardless of how strong your underlying case is.
The required notice period depends on the reason and on your state’s landlord-tenant statute. Nonpayment notices are typically short, often three to five days. Lease violation notices may require a longer cure period of ten days or more. Month-to-month tenancies being terminated without cause, where allowed, usually require 30 days. Getting the number of days wrong is one of the most common reasons eviction cases fail early.
The notice itself must identify the tenant, the property address, the specific reason for eviction, and the deadline to either fix the problem or vacate. Delivery methods generally include personal hand-delivery, certified mail, or posting the notice on the tenant’s door, and some jurisdictions require more than one. Keep proof: the certified mail receipt, a timestamped photo of a posted notice, or a witness to personal delivery. That documentation becomes part of your court filing.
The CARES Act 30-Day Overlay
If your rental property has a federally backed mortgage or participates in a federal housing program, a separate federal rule applies on top of your state’s notice requirements. The CARES Act requires landlords of covered properties to give tenants at least 30 days’ notice before requiring them to vacate for nonpayment of rent. This provision has no expiration date and remains in effect as of 2026.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 9058 – Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings
A covered property includes any property with a federally backed mortgage loan (loans purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, or USDA) and properties participating in federal housing assistance programs such as Section 8, public housing, or rural housing vouchers.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 9058 – Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings Many landlords don’t realize their property qualifies, particularly after refinancing through a lender that sold the loan to a government-sponsored enterprise. If you’re unsure, check with your loan servicer before serving a state-law notice that might be too short.
File the Eviction Complaint
Once the notice period expires without the tenant curing the problem or vacating, you file an eviction complaint (sometimes called a petition or an unlawful detainer action) with the court that has jurisdiction over the property’s location. This is almost always a local court at the county or municipal level. Filing in the wrong court wastes your filing fee and delays the process, so confirm the correct courthouse before submitting anything.
The complaint identifies you, the tenant, the property, the grounds for eviction, and what you’re asking the court to do, typically ordering possession of the property and, if applicable, awarding unpaid rent. Attach a copy of the lease, the notice you served, and proof of delivery. Most courts have standardized forms for residential evictions, and some jurisdictions allow electronic filing. Filing fees vary widely, generally running from around $50 to $500.
After you file, the court issues a summons that sets a hearing date. That summons and a copy of the complaint then have to be formally delivered to the tenant.
Have the Tenant Served With Court Papers
Service of process is separate from the initial written notice. This step puts the tenant on legal notice that a lawsuit has been filed and tells them when to appear in court. You cannot serve the papers yourself. They must be delivered by a neutral party, typically a sheriff’s deputy, a licensed process server, or another adult who is not involved in the case.
The most common method is personal service, where someone physically hands the papers to the tenant. If the tenant cannot be located after reasonable attempts, most jurisdictions allow substitute service, such as leaving the papers with another adult at the property and mailing a copy, or posting the documents on the door. Each method has specific rules about timing and documentation. Whoever serves the papers completes a proof of service or affidavit confirming how and when delivery occurred, and that document gets filed with the court. Sloppy service is another frequent reason eviction cases get thrown out.
Build Your Evidence and Attend the Hearing
You carry the burden of proof. The judge won’t take your side just because you filed the case.
For nonpayment cases, bring a rent ledger showing every payment received and every missed payment, copies of any late-payment notices or demand letters you sent, and bank statements or payment platform records confirming the tenant’s payment history. If the tenant made partial payments, show those too, because a judge will want to know the exact amount still owed.
For lease violations, bring the signed lease with the relevant provision highlighted, along with whatever evidence ties the tenant’s behavior to that provision. Photographs of property damage should be dated. Noise or nuisance complaints from neighbors should be in writing. Unauthorized occupant claims are strengthened by utility records, witness statements, or your own written observations with dates. For illegal activity, police reports carry far more weight than your suspicions. Organize everything chronologically.
Eviction hearings are typically short. You present your case first: explain the grounds, walk through the notice you served, and submit your evidence. The tenant then has an opportunity to respond, raise defenses, and present their own evidence. Expect common defenses to attack your procedure (was the notice too short or delivered incorrectly?), to allege retaliation for a protected activity like reporting code violations, to allege discrimination under the Fair Housing Act,2Civil Rights Division. The Fair Housing Act or to claim the unit was uninhabitable and justified withholding rent. If the tenant doesn’t appear, you can usually obtain a default judgment. If the judge finds a procedural defect in your notice or filing, the case may be dismissed without reaching the merits, and you’ll start over from the notice stage.
Uncontested cases often resolve in three to six weeks from filing. Contested cases can stretch to two or three months or longer.
Get the Writ of Possession and the Lockout
If you win, the court enters a judgment for possession, which is the legal order transferring the right to occupy the property back to you. The court may also enter a money judgment for unpaid rent, late fees, court costs, and in some jurisdictions, attorney’s fees.
A judgment for possession does not mean you can immediately change the locks. The tenant typically gets a short window, often five to ten days depending on jurisdiction, before physical removal can proceed. To actually remove the tenant, you need a writ of possession (called a writ of restitution or writ of execution in some states). You request this document from the court, usually by submitting a form and paying a fee, and it gets forwarded to the local sheriff or marshal.
The sheriff posts a final notice on the property giving the tenant a last opportunity to leave voluntarily. If the tenant still hasn’t vacated by the deadline stated in the posting, the sheriff returns to physically remove the tenant and their belongings. Writs typically expire if not executed within 30 days, so coordinate with the sheriff’s office promptly. Once the sheriff completes the lockout, you can secure the property and change the locks.
Don’t Take Shortcuts
This is the single biggest mistake landlords make. A self-help eviction means taking matters into your own hands instead of going through the courts: changing the locks while the tenant is out, shutting off utilities, removing the front door, hauling the tenant’s belongings to the curb, or any other action designed to force the tenant out without a court order.
Nearly every state prohibits self-help evictions, and the penalties are steep. Depending on the jurisdiction, a tenant subjected to an illegal lockout can sue for actual damages, statutory penalties of two to three times the monthly rent, attorney’s fees, and court costs. Some states treat it as a criminal misdemeanor. In many jurisdictions, the tenant also has the right to be restored to possession of the unit, meaning you end up right back where you started, except now you also owe the tenant money. Even when the tenant clearly owes months of back rent and has no viable defense, taking a shortcut turns you from the aggrieved party into the wrongdoer.
After the Eviction
Two loose ends usually remain: the tenant’s belongings and the money they owe you.
Tenants frequently leave personal property in the unit. You cannot simply throw everything in a dumpster. Nearly every state requires some form of notice and a waiting period before you can dispose of or sell abandoned property. Common requirements include inventorying and photographing the items, storing them in a reasonable location, and sending written notice to the tenant’s last known address describing the property and the deadline to pick it up. Disposal rules often depend on the estimated value of the items, with higher-value property sometimes requiring sale at public auction. Check your state’s statute before touching anything, because improper disposal can expose you to a separate lawsuit.
A money judgment for unpaid rent is only as good as your ability to collect it. Many evicted tenants don’t have the means to pay voluntarily. If the tenant doesn’t pay, you can use the judgment to pursue collection through wage garnishment or bank account levies, typically by obtaining a writ of execution and coordinating with the sheriff’s office or a collection agency. Money judgments remain enforceable for years, often ten or more depending on the state, and can usually be renewed. Interest accrues on the unpaid balance. Some landlords pursue collections aggressively; others write off the loss and focus on re-renting the unit.
Total Costs and Timeline
Budget for several categories of expense. Court filing fees typically run $50 to $500 depending on your jurisdiction and whether you’re requesting a money judgment in addition to possession. Service of process by a sheriff or private process server generally costs $40 to $300. If the case goes to a full hearing, attorney’s fees for an eviction lawyer commonly range from a few hundred dollars for an uncontested case to $1,500 or more for contested proceedings. After judgment, the writ of possession and sheriff’s lockout fee add another layer of cost.
An uncontested eviction where the tenant doesn’t respond or appear typically wraps up in three to six weeks from the date you file. A contested case with an active defense, requests for continuances, or an appeal can take two to three months or longer. Add the notice period before you can file, which could be as short as three days or as long as 30 days or more, and the total process runs roughly five weeks to four months from the first notice to the sheriff handing you back the keys. Plan for that timeline both financially and in terms of lost rent during the vacancy.