1. Evictions and other disputes with landlords
Chapter 15
Evictions and other disputes
with landlords

2. Getting out of a lease
Getting out of your lease as an alternative to eviction.
If you break a lease, you may owe your landlord rent not just for those months you are in the apartment but for some number of months after you leave.
Read the lease.
The first step in getting out of a lease is to read the rental agreement carefully.
Check to see if the lease is for a specified amount of time, usually one year, or if it is a month-to-month lease.
Negotiate with your landlord to reduce what you owe.
Landlords may also allow you to break the lease without penalty so that they can rent to others who are better able to pay.
Find someone else to take over the apartment.

3. Getting out of a Lease – Someone else can take over your apartment
There are two different ways that someone else can take over your apartment and the rent payments for you.
The first is a sublease, where someone else takes over your apartment and agrees to pay the landlord the rent but you are still legally responsible for making sure the rent gets paid. In this case you, are still responsible for any rent due.
The second is called assuming the lease, or when someone else takes over not only the apartment but the whole lease as well. In this case the new tenant is responsible for the remainder of the lease.

4. Breaking the lease
Breaking your lease may mean that you will owe the monthly rent for the remainder of the lease or until the landlord finds a new tenant.
Even if the landlord sues and obtains a judgment against you, he must find non-exempt property or income to satisfy the judgment if you refuse to pay it.
If you break a lease, you will most likely lose your security deposit.

5. Breaking the lease – New 2009 Law
Rights for renters in foreclosure. (If the owner of the rental property forecloses)
A new law, “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009” gives tenants some protections in these circumstances.
The law provides that the tenants can stay at least till the end of their lease period and month to month tenants must be given at least 90 days notices before having to move out.
Buyers intending to live in the property have an exclusion to the rule and may terminate any lease with 90 days notice.
The law ended in 2014, then a new bill was written to make this act permanent. In March 2015, they introduced a bill to keep the Act permanent.

6. Breaking the lease
Special considerations if your apartment is unlivable.
In some cases, you may be able to break the lease or withhold rent until repairs are made due to substandard conditions in your apartment.
Sometimes if conditions become so bad that you are forced to break the lease and move, a landlord may be required to reimburse you for the cost of temporary substitute housing.
Special considerations for military families.
If you are in the military on active duty, you have the right to get out of a lease in some circumstances.
To get out of the lease, you have to notify the landlord and enclose a copy of your military orders.

7. Responding to a landlord’s eviction attempts
If you are sued for eviction, you have the right to a fair trial.
The legal steps for an eviction vary from state to state, so you must become familiar with local rules.
The notice to quit is a warning.
In most states, the first step in an eviction is a notice from the landlord telling you that you must move within a short time, called a “notice to quit” or “notice to vacate.” This notice may also give you the option to cure the loan (a right in some states).
Negotiating with the landlord.
Even after receiving a notice to move out, you should consider talking to the landlord about a mutual agreement which would resolve the problem.
Temporary and permanent rent assistance.
You may also want to look into various sources of temporary rent assistance that can buy you some time (Bear River Association of Governments).

8. Responding to the eviction case
If you have not paid the full back-rent and have not moved out by the time specified in the notice to vacate, the landlord can file an eviction action in court.
Eviction actions are usually scheduled for a hearing right away.
If you disagree with a landlord’s complaint, or if you have any defenses, you should immediately contact the court and file an answer or counter-claim.

9. Responding to the eviction case
Attending the Eviction Hearing.
If you have been served with notice of an eviction proceeding, you should always attend, whether or not you have already moved out.
Even if you have no defenses, you can request that the judge gives you additional time before moving if there are special circumstances. At the hearing, you will need to be prepared to present your defenses, if any, to the eviction.
Raising Defenses.
Tenants with defenses to an eviction must raise those defenses at the eviction hearing. Most courts require that an evicting landlord strictly comply with all the technical requirements of the eviction law, including the content, timing, and service of all required notices and court documents.
State law sometimes allows other defenses or claims that might defeat or delay an eviction.

10. Responding to the eviction case
Substandard Housing Condition as a Defense.
In most states, courts will recognize defenses or counterclaims based upon the property not being “habitable”.
The availability of defenses and counterclaims based on the condition of the apartment varies widely from state to state.
Even if there are no housing code violations, problems with the apartment can still partially or fully offset your obligation to pay rent.
Most states require that you give prior notice to the landlord of the bad conditions before the conditions can be used as a defense to eviction.

11. Responding to the eviction case
Retaliatory Evictions
If you can show that an eviction action is in retaliation for your exercise of your legal rights, this will generally be a defense to the eviction.
Retaliatory eviction cases are hard to prove-especially when there is also a back-rent issue.

12. Responding to the eviction case
Appeals.
If you lose an eviction case and the court orders an eviction, one possibility is to appeal the case to a higher court.
An appeal may require that you pay certain filing fees or other court charges.
Other responses to a court’s eviction order.
You should respond to a court order of eviction by making arrangements to move before you are forced out into the street.
In some states, but not all, you will get a notice of an actual eviction date.
In some cases, arrangements to move by a certain date can be made directly with the landlord or by the court with a judge’s approval.
If you have not vacated by the time specified in a court eviction order, a sheriff or a similar official may move your belongings onto the sidewalk or, if you are fortunate, place them in storage.

13. Responding to the eviction case
Seizures of Personal Property and Unauthorized Lockouts.
Seizures of your personal property as part of a court- ordered eviction process may be legal.
A tenant whose property has been seized should seek legal advice.
Lockouts, utility shut-offs, and eviction-related harassment are illegal in all states. If you are locked out or if your utilities are shut off, your landlord may claim that you have abandoned the apartment. This is sneaky and illegal.

14. Responding to the eviction case
The Landlord’s Suit for Back-Rent.
Landlords sometimes sue for back rent or property damage after a tenant moves or is evicted.
As part of that suit, a landlord may also ask that the tenant be required to pay the landlord’s attorney fees.

15. Special eviction defenses for military families
If you are on active duty with the military, your landlord cannot evict you, your spouse, or your dependents from a residence you are renting unless he or she gets a court order.
This protection does not apply, however, if your monthly rent is more than $3,
If your landlord goes to court to evict you, consider asking the court to postpone the case or adjust the terms of the lease.

16. Using the bankruptcy process to stop evictions
In most cases, bankruptcy will only delay an eviction but in some cases, it will not. You will lose substantial rights as a tenant in bankruptcy if you start your bankruptcy case after a state court has entered an order for your eviction, usually called a “judgment of possession.”
If you file for bankruptcy before a state court has ordered your eviction, you may be able to cure a rent default through a long term payment plan (Ch. 13 bankruptcy).
Your rights as a tenant remain more flexible if you file for bankruptcy relief before a state court has entered a judgment for your eviction. However, you must be in a financial situation that would allow you to cure your rent. You must also have a long- term lease and your state must recognize the right to cure your lease or to “pay and stay.”

17. Using the Bankruptcy Process to Stop Evictions
A chapter 7 bankruptcy may delay an eviction, but it will not preserve a tenancy that has been terminated for nonpayment of rent.
Once a lease has been terminated for nonpayment of rent, a chapter 7 bankruptcy will usually not preserve the tenancy for the long term.
The only exception to this rule for chapter 7 cases is for evictions from public housing or similar rental properties where a government agency acts as the landlord.

18. Summary
There are several steps to take to get out of a lease: read the lease, negotiate with your landlord to reduce what you owe, and find someone else to take over the apartment (sublease, lease assumption)
If you decide to break the lease, you may be responsible for the remainder of the rent based on your lease length.
Special considerations apply if your apartment is unlivable.
There are several important things to know when responding to an eviction attempt (you have the right to a fair trial, the Notice to Quit is a warning, you can try and negotiate with the landlord, you can seek rental assistance)
When responding to an eviction case, you must attend the eviction hearing, raise defenses (including substandard housing conditions), determine whether it is a retaliatory eviction, and raise an appeal.
You must file for bankruptcy before an eviction case is brought against you.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy can stop an eviction with a payment plan.
Chapter 7 can delay eviction, but usually will not preserve long-term tenancy.