Defenses to Residential Eviction

This blog is written by Erik Wilson- www.nobigdeallaw.com

Getting notice that you’re being evicted can be a traumatic experience.  As a tenant in a residential living space, you have certain rights that may prevent, postpone, or mitigate the costs of an eviction.  The following are some general things to keep in mind once you have received notice of an eviction proceeding:

 What kind of tenancy do you have?

The type of relationship you and your landlord have entered into is an important factor in analyzing what kinds of defenses to eviction are available.  Landlords are required by law to provide tenants with written notice of eviction.  If you are a month-to-month tenant with no specific lease term, and you have diligently paid your rent on time, the landlord’s notice of eviction must give the tenant 30-days unless certain other limited circumstances apply.  Failure to fulfill these notice requirements may provide a defense to eviction.

Why are you being evicted?

Depending on the reason for the eviction, different defenses may be available. In almost all circumstances, whether the eviction is based on the non-payment of rent or if no reason is given, the landlord’s written notice of eviction is subject to attack on technical grounds if it has failed to meet the requirements of the statute.  For this reason, no matter why you’re being evicted, it’s very important that you retain the written notice of eviction and either keep the envelope that it was mailed in, or make a note of the time it was personally served on you.

 Discriminatory or Retaliatory Eviction.

Landlords are prohibited from evicting tenants for reasons that are based on discrimination or retaliation.  Your landlord may not discriminate against you based on race, color, sex, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, source of income, religion, national origin or disability (including the use of an assistance animal).  There are many other potential discrimination defenses that may apply to individual cases.

Landlords are prohibited from retaliating against you for exercising your right to complain to the landlord or governmental agency about a violation of a building code, housing code, habitable condition of your unit, or, in some cases, a landlord abusing access to the unit.  Many of these defenses are only available in certain situations (some of which depend on the payment of rent), so be sure to talk to an attorney if you have questions.