Featured News 2013 Just Cause for Eviction: Your Rights as a Tenant

Just Cause for Eviction: Your Rights as a Tenant

If you are currently a tenant in a home or apartment, then your landlord does have the legal right to ask you to leave under circumstances. However, your landlord does not have the right to insist that you leave the home or apartment without giving you any legitimate reason why you are not permitted to stay there. One issue that is commonly seen in landlord/tenant relationships involves an eviction of preference. For example, a landlord may discover that this daughter needs a pace to live. As a result, the landlord may decide to evict you from your place of residency and put his daughter up there instead. As a result, the law says that the landlord needs to have a “just cause” to terminate a rent-controlled tenancy. As a tenant, if you have failed to pay rent, or have cause excessive damage to the building where you are currently living, then the landlord would have just cause to ask you to leave. Also, if you have unauthorized occupants living in the home, or your landlord has expressed the desire to take the property off the market, then you may be forced to leave.

The landlord will typically need to check the rent control ordinance to confirm that it is legal to facilitate an “owner move in” and that this is considered a just cause to evict a tenant. In most ordinances, owner move-ins are allowed for but some ordinances may ban them. Landlords need to inspect the agreement carefully to ascertain this before making any rash decisions. After determining whether or not it is legally right to permit an owner to move into the currently occupied space, the landlord will then need to you as a tenant by allowing you to finish your lease. After the term is up, the tenant will have to leave if all is according to the ordinances. If you are in a month to month lease, then there are probably state laws governing how an eviction should work in your situation. You will want to make sure that your landlord is following the state notice period guidelines if you choose to move out.

Other times, a landlord may want to evict a tenant for another situation. For example, if you are a tenant who has refused to comply with the statutes of the agreement, then the landlord can evict you from the property. If there is a no pet policy and you choose to keep a cat inside the apartment, then you can be evicted. If you violate the no-drug policy at your residency and the landlord discovers it, then you can also be evicted. In addition, you can be evicted if you fail to pay the rent on your place or residency. There are three basic types of termination that you may be served. One is a pay rent or quit notice which has to do with your tardy payments. As a tenant, if you pay the rent within a short amount of time you may be permitted to stay at the home.

Another type of eviction notice that tenants can receive is called a cure or quite notice. This is a notice that claims that the tenant violated a term or condition of the lease or rental agreement. This would be the type of eviction notice served if you had damaged the building or violated noise curfews continuously. Typically, there is a set amount of time in which you have the opportunity to correct or “cure” your situation. If you are supposed to get rid of a pet, then you have a few days to take action. The last type of notice that you can receive as a tenant is an unconditional quit notice. This is a harsh notice which orders the tenant to vacate the premise immediately with no chance to correct behavior.

This is only allowed when a tenant has repeatedly violated a lease or rental agreement clause or has been late with the rent on more than one occasion. As well, if the tenant has serious damaged the premises in a costly way, or has engaged in a serious illegal activity like drug dealing within the building, then the landlord has the right to serve this non-negotiable eviction. As a tenant, you have the right to defend yourself if you believe that you have been falsely accused. For example, you can point out a mistake in the eviction complaint or an improper service regarding the delivery. The way that you have interacted with your landlord in the past will probably have a heavy weight upon the case as well. If you need more information, then contact an attorney at the firm today!

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