Before You Do Anything: Document
Before serving a single piece of paper, make sure your documentation is in order. The eviction process runs on evidence, and everything you do from this point forward needs to be provable in court. Pull out the lease agreement and confirm the terms the tenant is violating. Gather your rent payment records showing the delinquency or non-payment. Print out or screenshot any relevant communication — texts, emails, letters. Take photos or video of any property damage. Date everything. Organize it. This file becomes your case.
Landlords who show up to court with a neatly organized folder of evidence win more cases and win them faster than landlords who show up with a story and nothing to back it up. The judge wasn't there when the tenant trashed your bathroom. The photos were.
Step 1: Identify Your Legal Grounds
Every eviction needs a legally valid reason. The most common grounds are non-payment of rent, lease violations (unauthorized occupants, pets, damage, noise), holdover after lease expiration, and illegal activity on the premises. Your reason determines which type of notice you serve and how the court will evaluate your case.
If you don't have clear legal grounds, you don't have an eviction case. "I don't like the tenant" or "I want to raise the rent" aren't grounds for eviction during an active lease in most states. Check your state's landlord-tenant statute to confirm your reason qualifies.
Step 2: Serve the Correct Notice
Based on your grounds, serve the appropriate written notice. For non-payment: a pay-or-quit notice specifying the exact amount owed and the deadline to pay. For lease violations: a cure-or-quit notice describing the specific violation and the deadline to fix it. For serious or repeated violations: an unconditional quit notice where permitted by state law.
The notice must include all information required by your state's statute, and it must be delivered using an approved service method — personal delivery, certified mail, posting and mailing, or whatever your state allows. Document how and when you served the notice. Take a photo. Get a witness. Keep the certified mail receipt. This proof of service is essential at the hearing.
Step 3: Wait the Full Notice Period
This is where impatient landlords get into trouble. The notice period is a legally required waiting period, and you cannot file with the court until it has fully expired. If the notice says 3 days, you wait the full 3 days. If it says 14 days, you wait 14 days. Count carefully — most states do not include the day of service in the count, and some exclude weekends and holidays from the calculation.
Filing even one day before the notice period expires will get your case dismissed. The judge will not make an exception because the tenant owes you six months of rent. The clock is the clock.
Step 4: File the Eviction Complaint
Once the notice period has expired and the tenant hasn't complied, go to the court that has jurisdiction over the property location and file an eviction complaint (sometimes called an unlawful detainer or forcible detainer). Bring the completed complaint form, a copy of the lease, the notice you served, and proof of service. Pay the filing fee, which typically ranges from $30 to $300.
The clerk will assign your case a number and schedule a hearing date, usually 1 to 4 weeks out depending on your jurisdiction's backlog. You will also receive a summons that must be served on the tenant.
Step 5: Serve the Summons on the Tenant
The court summons notifies the tenant of the lawsuit and the hearing date. It must be served by someone other than you — a sheriff's deputy, a process server, or another adult who is not a party to the case. Service rules for summonses are often stricter than for notices, so verify your court's specific requirements.
If the process server can't find the tenant for personal service, most states allow alternative methods after documented failed attempts — posting on the door combined with mailing, or substituted service on another adult at the property. Keep records of all service attempts.
Step 6: Attend the Hearing
Show up on time with your documentation organized. Present your case factually: here's the lease, here's the violation or non-payment, here's the notice I served, here's proof I served it correctly, the notice period expired, the tenant didn't comply, I'm requesting possession of the property and a judgment for unpaid rent.
Keep it professional. Don't get emotional or confrontational, even if the tenant lies or makes outrageous claims. The judge decides based on evidence and procedure, not on who's more upset. If you've followed every step correctly and have the documentation to prove it, the evidence is on your side.
Step 7: Get the Judgment and Writ of Possession
If the judge rules in your favor, you receive a judgment for possession (and potentially a money judgment for unpaid rent and damages). After a mandatory waiting period — typically 5 to 10 days depending on the state — you can request a writ of possession from the court.
The writ is delivered to the sheriff's office. The sheriff serves the writ on the tenant, giving them a final deadline to vacate (usually 24 to 72 hours). If they still haven't left, the sheriff returns to remove them and you take possession of your property.
Even after the judgment, you cannot remove the tenant yourself. Only the sheriff can execute the writ of possession. Changing locks, removing belongings, or entering the property before the sheriff gives you possession is illegal self-help eviction — even with a court judgment in hand.
What If the Tenant Doesn't Show Up to Court?
If the tenant was properly served with the summons and doesn't appear at the hearing, you can request a default judgment. The court rules in your favor because the tenant didn't contest the case. You still need to present your basic evidence — the lease, notice, and proof of service — but without opposition, it's typically a quick proceeding.
Default judgments are the best-case scenario for landlords. They're fast, they're clean, and they rarely get overturned on appeal. Most tenants who don't show up have already left or have accepted the inevitable. The ones who show up to fight are the ones who slow the process down.
What If the Tenant Fights It?
Tenants who contest the eviction typically raise defenses like improper notice, landlord failure to maintain the property (habitability defense), retaliatory eviction, or disputes about the amount owed. Each of these defenses requires you to respond with evidence that your process was correct, your property is maintained, and your eviction is based on legitimate grounds rather than retaliation.
A contested eviction takes longer — possibly weeks longer if the tenant requests continuances or if the court has a backlog. In some cases, a contested eviction can take two to three times as long as an uncontested one. This is why doing everything correctly from Step 1 matters so much — an airtight case gives the tenant very little to work with in their defense.
The timeline for each step varies by state. Check your state's specific eviction laws to know exactly how many days each notice period requires, how quickly courts schedule hearings, and what waiting periods apply between judgment and execution. Then review the common mistakes to make sure you don't accidentally reset the clock. For a broader comparison, check the state timelines to see how your state compares.