The Eviction Readiness Tool combines everything into one complete eviction plan. Enter your state, reason for eviction, start date, monthly rent, and whether you expect the tenant to contest — and get your required notice, full projected timeline with milestone dates, itemized cost estimate, and state-specific warnings all in a single output you can act on immediately.

🎯 Eviction Readiness Tool

Complete eviction planning tool. Enter your situation and get your notice requirements, full projected timeline, estimated costs, and key state-specific warnings — all in one place.

State — Select a State —AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington DCWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Reason for Eviction Nonpayment of Rent Lease Violation

Today's Date

Monthly Rent ($) — for cost estimate

Contested? (Tenant likely to fight) No — expecting default Yes — tenant will contest

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⚠️ Disclaimer: These calculations are estimates based on state statutes and typical court timelines. Actual results vary by county, court backlog, and case specifics. Always verify current requirements with your local courthouse. This is not legal advice.

Underground Landlord

Explore Your State’s Full Eviction Guide

Every state has its own rules, courts, timelines, and gotchas. Click your state on the map below to view the complete eviction law guide for your jurisdiction including statutes, notice requirements, court procedures, filing fees, and writ timelines.

Are You Ready to File an Eviction? What Every Landlord Needs to Know First

Filing an eviction is not simply a matter of showing up to court with a story about a tenant who stopped paying rent. It is a legal proceeding governed by state statute, local court rules, and procedural requirements that must be followed precisely — in the correct order, within the correct timeframes, using the correct forms and service methods. A single misstep at any stage can result in dismissal, a reset of the entire timeline, and additional months of lost rent while you start the process over from the beginning.

Eviction readiness means understanding exactly what is required before you serve a single piece of paper, knowing what to expect at each stage of the process, and having a realistic picture of the time and money involved so you can make informed decisions about how to proceed. The tool above generates that picture for your specific state and situation. This page provides the context behind it.

Step One: Make Sure You Have Grounds

Before anything else, a landlord needs to be certain they have valid legal grounds for eviction under their state’s landlord-tenant statute. The most common grounds are nonpayment of rent, material lease violation, expiration of the lease term, and in some states no-cause termination of a month-to-month tenancy. Each type of eviction follows different procedural rules, requires different notice language, and in some cases has different notice periods.

Filing on the wrong grounds — or using a notice designed for one reason when the actual grounds are different — is one of the most common reasons eviction cases are dismissed at the initial hearing. Judges in small claims and magistrate courts are accustomed to catching these errors, and tenants who have received legal assistance will often raise them immediately.

Retaliatory eviction is a separate concern. Most states prohibit a landlord from filing an eviction within a certain window after a tenant has made a habitability complaint, contacted a housing authority, or exercised another protected right. In North Carolina that window is 12 months. In Georgia it is 3 months. Filing during this period does not automatically mean the eviction fails, but it does expose the landlord to a retaliatory eviction defense that can complicate the case significantly.

Step Two: Serve the Right Notice the Right Way

Notice is where the majority of eviction cases are lost before they ever reach a courtroom. The notice must use the correct name and language required by the state statute, state the correct number of days, reflect the correct dollar amount if it is a nonpayment notice, and be served by a method the court will accept as legally valid service.

Service requirements vary considerably. Personal delivery to the tenant is accepted everywhere and is always the most defensible method. Posting on the door combined with first-class mailing is accepted in many states as an alternative when the tenant is not home, but courts in some jurisdictions require documented evidence of the failed personal service attempts before posting is permitted. Certified mail alone is accepted in some states but not others. Using an improper service method, even with a correctly worded notice, can result in the case being thrown out.

Keep a written record of how and when the notice was served. If the case is contested, you will need to testify or provide documentation about service at the hearing. A dated photograph of the posted notice, a signed declaration of service, or a receipt from certified mail can make the difference between a clean judgment and a dismissal on procedural grounds.

Step Three: File at the Right Court with the Right Forms

Once the notice period has expired without the tenant paying, vacating, or curing the violation, the landlord can file an eviction complaint with the appropriate court. In most states this is a small claims court, magistrate court, or general district court depending on the jurisdiction. Filing in the wrong court — for example filing in district court for a case that belongs in magistrate court — can result in dismissal or transfer delays.

The forms required vary by state and sometimes by county. Some courts provide standardized forms available at the courthouse or online. Others require the landlord to draft their own complaint following specific formatting rules. Many states now allow or require electronic filing for eviction cases, particularly in high-volume jurisdictions. Check with your local courthouse or the court’s website before assuming the process matches what you read in a generic guide.

Filing fees must be paid at the time of filing and are non-refundable regardless of outcome. The cost estimator tab above shows the approximate filing fee for your state. Expect to also pay a separate service fee when the court issues the summons and schedules delivery to the tenant.

Step Four: Prepare for the Hearing

The hearing date is set by the court after the summons is served on the tenant. In fast-moving courts this can be as soon as 5 to 7 days after filing. In backlogged urban courts it can take 3 to 6 weeks. On the hearing date, both parties appear before a judge or magistrate and present their case.

In an uncontested case where the tenant does not appear, the landlord typically receives a default judgment immediately. In a contested case the landlord needs to be prepared to present evidence: the lease agreement, a ledger showing the rent owed and the unpaid balance, documentation of the notice and service, and any written communication with the tenant relevant to the dispute.

Several states give tenants the right to request a jury trial, which removes the case from magistrate court and schedules it in district or superior court — a process that adds substantial time and cost. North Carolina is a notable example where either party can demand a jury trial within 10 days of the magistrate’s judgment. Texas allows jury trials in eviction cases at the justice of the peace level. If you are in a state where this right exists, factor it into your readiness plan.

Step Five: Obtain and Execute the Writ of Possession

A judgment in the landlord’s favor does not immediately give the landlord possession of the property. The landlord must request a writ of possession from the court — typically available the same day as the judgment or within a few days — which authorizes the sheriff or constable to physically remove the tenant if they have not vacated voluntarily.

In most states the tenant has a period after judgment to appeal before the writ is issued or before it can be executed, typically 10 to 30 days depending on the state. Some states require the tenant to post a bond to stay the eviction during appeal. Others automatically stay execution of the writ pending appeal without a bond requirement. Know your state’s rules before assuming the process ends at the hearing.

Once the writ is issued and the appeal window has passed or a bond has not been posted, the landlord delivers the writ to the sheriff’s department. The sheriff schedules the lockout, typically with 24 to 72 hours notice to the tenant, then arrives to execute the writ and return possession to the landlord. What happens to the tenant’s belongings after lockout is governed by state-specific abandonment statutes that vary considerably — from Georgia’s immediate abandonment rule to North Carolina’s informal best-practice standard of 7 to 14 days written notice before disposal.

The Case for Screening Before You Ever Need This Tool

Every step described above represents time, money, stress, and risk. A single eviction from the first missed rent payment to final possession and a re-leased unit realistically costs most landlords between $4,000 and $12,000 when all costs are accounted for — and that figure climbs significantly in contested cases and tenant-protective states with long timelines.

The landlords who use the Eviction Readiness Tool least are the ones who invested the most in tenant screening before the lease was signed. A background check, credit report, eviction history search, income verification, and landlord reference check costs $20 to $50 per applicant and takes 24 to 48 hours. It is the only step in the entire landlord-tenant relationship that has the potential to eliminate the need for everything on this page.

If you are currently working through an eviction, use the tool above to plan your next steps. If you are between tenants, visit our tenant screening guide before placing your next applicant in the unit. The best eviction is the one you never have to file.

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