Eviction
Eviction is the legal or informal removal of a tenant from a home by a landlord or other authority, often following a dispute over rent or tenancy.
Notice to Quit: A formal notice demanding that a tenant leave or correct a breach of a tenancy agreement. It often begins the formal process by telling a tenant what must change or when to leave.
Landlord–Tenant Law: The body of law governing rental housing relationships, including possession, payment, repairs, and tenant protections. It sets the legal framework for a landlord’s right to recover a home.
Housing Insecurity: Uncertainty about whether a person can obtain or maintain safe, stable, and affordable housing. An eviction can turn an immediate loss of housing into prolonged instability.
Eviction Moratorium: A temporary legal restriction on initiating or enforcing certain evictions. Moratoria can pause removals during emergencies or other periods of heightened risk.
Unlawful Detainer: A court proceeding to recover possession of property from someone who remains without a legal right to occupy it. Landlords commonly use this lawsuit to seek a court order for possession.
Lease: A contract granting a tenant the right to occupy property under specified terms and conditions. Lease terms can define breaches that landlords cite as grounds for removal.
Homelessness: The condition of lacking a stable, adequate place to live, including sheltered and unsheltered forms. People displaced by eviction may enter shelters, temporary arrangements, or unsheltered homelessness.
Right to Counsel in Housing Court: A policy or legal entitlement providing representation to tenants in specified housing-court proceedings. Legal representation can help tenants understand procedures and present defenses.
Summary Process: An expedited court procedure used to resolve certain disputes, including some landlord claims for possession. Its compressed timeline can make eviction cases move faster than ordinary civil lawsuits.
Security of Tenure: The degree to which occupants are protected from losing their homes without lawful grounds and procedures. It shapes how easily a landlord or authority can end an occupancy.