My landlord kicked me out without warning. Is that legal?

When a landlord evicts a tenant without due notice, the court may deem the action a wrongful eviction. Under most state laws, tenants have certain rights and landlords have obligations to those tenants. Eviction is regulated by both federal and state statutes and landlords have a responsibility to follow these statutory stipulations. Even where there is a valid reason for eviction, the landlord must provide proper notice and give the tenant enough time to comply and leave the property. If the tenant refuses to comply, the landlord then has the option of going to court to legally evict the tenant. Outside of these procedures, an eviction is considered wrongful in most cases.

However, some state laws provide the landlord the right to evict a tenant immediately without a trial where the tenant has failed to pay the rent and the rent is the landlord's is total source of income. In this case, the court would rule that the generally long eviction proceeding would place the landlord in a financially detrimental condition. In this case, the eviction would not be considered wrongful. Different jurisdictions may provide other statutes that address immediate extrajudicial evictions that are legal.

Wrongful Evictions

You have legal options if you are evicted without notice or otherwise evicted illegally:

• You may file a wrongful eviction case against your landlord. Even if notice was given, the landlord must provide you a sufficient time period to find other accommodations before you have to vacate the premises.
• You can also file a wrongful eviction case if the notice cites a reason for that was not contained in the original agreement.

Talk with an attorney to discuss your wrongful eviction.