A Notice of Eviction (a.k.a. Notice to Quit), as the names suggest, is a legal document that a landlord must give to a tenant. It informs the latter that he needs to end his lease and vacate the property within a given timeframe.

There are two general reasons for tenant eviction: it can either be due to a lease violation committed by the tenant, or for no-fault reasons such as the closure of the rental property. Lease violations include non-payment of rent, damage to property, disturbance to fellow tenants, or criminal activity. 

However, serving a tenant a Notice to Quit does not guarantee that you will be able to evict the tenant. There are three ways the eviction can push through after serving the notice:

Tenant fixes the violation

The law requires a certain amount of time after serving the notice before eviction proceedings continue. It would depend on the reason for eviction. The timeframe also varies from state to state, depending on what local housing laws suggest. 

If the reason why the tenant is getting evicted is non-payment of rent, he can pay the amount he owes before the end of the timeframe stated on the notice. 

Landlord cancels the eviction

If the lease violation couldn’t be quickly corrected by the tenant, such as major structural damage or criminal activity, he needs to vacate the property. However, if he can negotiate a compromise with you, you have the choice to cancel the notice. Since you have the upper hand, you can set new terms and conditions on how the tenant can stay in the property.

The court finds fault 

When a tenant decides to stay on the property despite getting served the notice, you can officially file for an eviction lawsuit (a.k.a. unlawful detainer) in court against the tenant. 

The court will review your application and investigate before making a decision. They will have to make sure that the reason for eviction is a legal ground for evicting a tenant, and if the tenant was given due process (e.g. the notice was served within the legal timeframe). 

If the court finds an issue with the lawsuit filed, they can cancel the eviction and allow the tenant to stay in the rental property. 

How you can prevent evictions…

Going through an eviction is stressful for both tenants and landlords. As a landlord, you would want to decrease the odds of resorting to such measures. One of the best ways to prevent is by finding responsible tenants who will honor the terms of your lease agreement. 

After you publish your listing on Padleads, you might be able to attach a pool of rental applicants. To find the best tenants, conduct a very thorough screening process. Since they can directly contact you through Padleads, you can already start weeding out potentially bad tenants on the first point of contact by watching out for red flags.