Eviction Moving Services: Your Options as a Tenant Being Evicted

Without a doubt, there are indisputable advantages to renting a place rather than buying it.

For example, renters do not have any maintenance costs or repair bills, and they don’t need to pay any property taxes either. Also, renters do enjoy greater flexibility because they can practically live almost anywhere they want.

In fact, for many people, renting makes more sense when it comes to their financial situation. In order to save money in the long run, renters can always choose to downsize to a more affordable place that matches their budget.

Thus said, there’s always the risk of renters getting evicted from their place. Oftentimes, the underlying reason for an eviction is a violation of the lease terms but that’s not always the case – an eviction can occur simply because the landlord has other plans for the property and therefore wants it vacated.

If you yourself are a tenant and you’re being evicted from the property you’re renting, then you must know your viable options as a tenant who is being evicted for some reason or another.

Also, you’ll need to know how to hire the best eviction moving services to move out of the rented place if that’s the only option you’ve got left.

What is an eviction?

If a tenant has violated the terms of a lease for some reason, then the landlord has the right to remove the said tenant from the property. This is called an eviction and it’s a legal process – meaning that the landlord cannot simply evict a tenant without a good reason.

The reason for the eviction has to be legally recognized by the state in order for the eviction proceedings to begin. If a judge rules in favor of the landlord, then the tenant will be obligated by the court to leave the rented property within a specific timeframe.

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Reasons why a tenant may be evicted

It’s a fact that most evictions occur due to lease violations, and the most common violation of a rental lease is the tenant’s failure to pay the rent.

Nevertheless, it’s important to understand that not paying the rent is not the only reason why a tenant may be evicted from a rented living space. Other reasons for eviction include but are not limited to

• Too many people living in the rented property without permission;
• Subleasing the place to another person without permission;
• Always paying the rent late – that is, after the due date;
• Unacceptable behavior that causes inconveniences to other tenants in the building;
• Damaging the rented place or the household items in it that are not the property of the tenant;
• Not accepting legal changes to the rent or to the terms of the lease contract;
• Using the rental property for illegal activities;
• The landlord wants to use the property for something else (personal use) or they want to renovate the living space in a way that excludes the possibility of a tenant living there in the meantime.

Or there may be another entirely different reason why a landlord may wish the tenant to move out of the place. Nevertheless, a landlord must follow the correct eviction procedure to make sure they are abiding by the law.

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What you can do if you’re being evicted

It’s important to note that eviction rules can vary slightly from state to state but generally speaking, they are more or less the same.

If you happen to be getting evicted from the current place, then your landlord must give you a written notice before the eviction proceedings get underway. Some states require a written notice of up to 30 days while other states require no more than 3 days’ notice.

Here’s the critical part: after your landlord gives you a written notice that you’re going to get evicted from the rental property, you’ve got exactly 3 options:

Option 1. Resolve the situation

The best thing you can do when you receive a notice that you’re being evicted is to talk to your landlord in an attempt to resolve the issue. After all, it’s possible that you and the landlord find a solution that will be beneficial for both parties.

If the problem is that you have skipped rent payments, you can try to persuade your landlord to agree to a plan for back rent or to lower temporarily the rent until you fix your financial difficulties. If possible, your landlord may be willing to accept delayed payments for a specific time until you become financially stable once more.

In case of another type of lease violation, then an honest conversation with your landlord could resolve the issue once and for all. Ideally, you’ll be able to reach some sort of a compromise with the property owner so that you won’t need to move out of the place or get evicted.

In some cases, you can get a notice to cure the situation or quit. In reality, such a cure or quit notice means that if you can resolve the situation within the time you are given (for example, pay all the rent money you own for any missed payments), then you will be allowed to stay in the rented place since you’ll have cured the lease violation.

However, you might still get an unconditional notice to quit, meaning that you won’t be allowed to stay on the property even when you fix the problem – that is, resolve the lease violation.

Option 2. Move out before you’re evicted

Your second option if you’re being evicted is to move out before you’re officially evicted from the rental property. This way, you’ll be able to avoid the eviction process by the court. But why is this important?

If you get evicted officially, that can make it much harder for you to rent other properties in the future since the eviction is likely to appear on consumer reports. Also, any eviction-related debts might appear on your credit report and lower your credit score as a result.

You must make sure you do all in your power to resolve the unpleasant situation without getting evicted by a court decision. Therefore, it’s best to avoid eviction by moving out if you’ve received an unconditional notice to quit.

IMPORTANT: Remember that you must still pay any remaining rent money or any fees to your landlord before you move away. If you don’t, then your landlord may take the case to a civil court and you don’t really want that to happen.

Option 3. Contest the eviction in court

Unfortunately, you’ll be running out of options by that point. You have to resolve the problem with your landlord within the period of time stated on the eviction notice. If you do resolve the leave violation, then you can either remain in the property or move out depending on your landlord’s decision.

But if you don’t resolve the issue and you refuse to move out, then your landlord can initiate eviction proceedings against you. In that case, your last option is to dispute the eviction in court if you do think that you’re being evicted unjustly and unreasonably.

But be careful: contesting the eviction in court will only increase the legal fees and if you end up being on the losing side, you won’t particularly like the amount of money you’ll be ordered to pay by the court to cover those legal expenses.

Prepare to move out quickly

When moving out due to eviction, your priority task is to complete the move within the timeframe you are given.

The bad news is that in most cases, that period of time will be short, and at times, it will be very short, meaning that you may have to organize an emergency move.

Having only a few days to prepare to move out is definitely not enough to handle the tough task in a calm, logical, and systematic manner like you would if you had at least a couple of weeks at your disposal. Moving out on short notice will force you to take drastic actions to speed up the entire relocation process.

Of course, there are a number of things you can do to help accelerate the task of moving out of a rental property when being evicted:

• Remain calm and don’t panic. After all, moving out of a rented place is not the end of the world. As long as you don’t owe any money to the landlord or to a court, things should be alright again as soon as you move into a new place.
• Don’t waste any precious time doing nothing simply because you won’t have much time to waste anyway. Use a detailed Moving Checklist to organize your time in the best possible way without forgetting to do something important prior to moving away.
• Consider moving only your essential items and leaving behind any things that you won’t need in the future and you don’t particularly like either. This way, you’ll be able to save valuable packing time.
• Don’t bother packing and moving items that are forbidden for transport. Such hazardous items include but are not limited to any items that can ignite, burn, explode, or corrode.
• Gift away the items that you won’t be taking with you but that are still in decent condition to be reused. The best thing you can do under the circumstances is to donate unwanted items to various charitable organizations.
• Ask friends to help you move out quickly in order to fit the eviction timeframe and avoid further problems down the road. Your pals can help you pack up your things or move any furniture pieces out of the rented place.
• Use brand-new packing materials to protect your belongings since you won’t have the time to go and look for second-hand boxes.

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Hire eviction moving services

If you’re being evicted, your safest bet is to hire an eviction moving company to help you move out as soon as possible.

Eviction movers are properly licensed, bonded, and insured, meaning that your belongings will be in good hands until they reach the new place. But that’s not all – eviction moving companies that specialize in eviction moves understand the complexity and the urgency of the situation as well.

Using eviction moving services will also reduce the overall stress you must be feeling in a difficult time like that.

An eviction process is tough for both tenants and landlords, so the tension during such a forceful move is sure to be running dangerously high.

Since there’s a good chance that you’ll need to hire an eviction moving company at the last moment, the moving rates are likely to be more expensive than the mover’s standard charges.

Get a free quote from reputable eviction movers to learn your actual eviction moving costs and be prepared mentally and financially for the next step.