When You Get a Memphis Apartment Eviction Notice
Aug 24th, 2007 by Memphis Apartments
There are many reasons for your Memphis apartment landlord to give you an eviction notice. There are just as many ways for you to respond to your Memphis apartment landlord after you receive it. The best thing you can do is remain calm in order to handle the situation in the best way possible so that you can keep your cool and your Memphis apartment.
Your Memphis apartment landlord must give you a written eviction notice. Verbal notices are not legal. The notice must indicate the reason for the eviction. The reason must be a violation of the lease or other superseding law.
The very first thing you should do is to communicate with your Memphis apartment landlord. You will be amazed what a little bit of communication can resolve. If you are late paying your rent but will be able to pay it in full in a day or two, let your Memphis apartment landlord know. Unless you tell him, he doesn’t know what is going. All he knows is that you did not pay your rent. For all he knows, you skipped out and have no intention of paying him. Talk to him.
Your Memphis apartment landlord does not have to allow you to remedy the situation. If he is evicting you because you have not paid rent, he does not have to allow you to pay the rent in full to stop the eviction. He can decline your rent money and evict you. Keep in mind that when you go to court, the judge will require you to pay the Memphis apartment landlord all back rent due him.
If your Memphis apartment landlord does allow you to remedy the situation and stop the eviction, this does not mean he will not issue another eviction notice if the situation reoccurs. He is not prohibited from filing for eviction again and again. You don’t want to make it a habit of waiting for an eviction notice before addressing an issue. Eventually your Memphis apartment landlord will get fed up and follow through on the eviction.
It is illegal for your Memphis apartment landlord to evict you without a valid reason. If you believe the reason listed on the eviction notice is not true, contact an attorney for advice. If you can’t afford an attorney or are frightened of the legal process, consider contacting your local legal aide society for advice. They can walk you through the process so you know what to expect. If the eviction reason is not valid, they will tell you.
It is your responsibility to know your rights and responsibilities as a tenant. Each state has slightly different tenancy laws. You should know what they are before you ever sign a lease. If you get an eviction notice, you should definitely know what the law is before going into court. You can contact your housing court for information. They will have brochures that help you understand tenancy and housing laws in your state.
If your Memphis apartment landlord has filed for eviction in retaliation of something you have done or said, immediately contact an attorney. Your attorney will help you document the situation. If you have complained of housing code violations and then you receive an eviction notice, the court may consider that retaliatory if you can prove the reason for the eviction is not true. If the cause for eviction is valid, the retaliation may not matter. In other words, even if the Memphis apartment landlord is retaliating, if you have not paid your rent in two months, the court is likely to side with your landlord.
If you have paid your rent and are now in dispute with your Memphis apartment landlord over the eviction, contact your housing court and arrange to pay your monthly rent to them. This shows the court you have paid your rent and once you have had your court hearing, the court will decide what to do with the rent money you paid them.
An eviction notice is not the end of the world. Memphis apartment landlords typically issue eviction notices because you have not communicated with them. Some Memphis apartment landlords will issue an eviction notice if they see you as a problem tenant or troublemaker. You can protect yourself in these situations by knowing what your rights and responsibilities are as a tenant.