In handling evictions for landlords and tenants\u00a0I often see\u00a0some confusion regarding the process for filing the eviciton complaint.\u00a0\u00a0 If the landlord properly follows the procedure then the\u00a0the complaint is not subject to dismissal.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But if there is an error in the process then the\u00a0tenant will naturally move to\u00a0dismiss the\u00a0complaint based upon that error.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What follows is brief overview of the process involved in the\u00a0filing of \u00a0an\u00a0eviction \u00a0complaint.<\/p>\n
Unlike other civil actions, in an eviction proceeding the landlord must purchase a standard form from the court to file the eviction.\u00a0\u00a0 The form is called the “Summary Process Summons and Complaint.”\u00a0 The form has blank sections that the landlord fills in, including such information as the landlord’s name, the tenant’s name, the address of the premises, the amount of past due rent, and the reason for the termination of the tenancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0On the form, the landlord must designate an “entry” date, which is the date that the\u00a0Complaint is entered (i.e. filed) with the Court. \u00a0The entry date is always on a Monday. \u00a0The tenant must be served with the Complaint at least one week prior to the designated entry date. \u00a0In setting the entry date the landlord should remember that the tenant cannot be served more than thirty days after the entry date; nor can the tenant be served any earlier than seven days after the entry date.\u00a0 The tenant\u2019s “answer” date is always the Monday after the entry date.\u00a0 The tenant must file the answer with the Court and also serve a copy of the answer upon the landlord no later than\u00a0the answer date.\u00a0\u00a0 Although, a tenant is not required to file answer in an eviction proceeding so the failure to file an answer does not necessarily have a negative effect for the tenant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trial is scheduled to be held ten days after the entry date; so the trial is always scheduled for a Thursday.\u00a0\u00a0 Under the law,\u00a0eviction proceedings are deemed to commence on the date that the tenant is served and not on the later designated entry date.\u00a0 So a landlord should be sure that the notice to quit has expired before the tenant is served with the complaint; since if the tenant is served before the expiration of the notice to quit the Court will dismiss the landlord\u2019s action as being premature.\u00a0 On or before the entry date, the landlord must file in the Court the original summons and complaint with proof of service, a copy of the notice to quit with proof of delivery, and the entry fee charged by the Court.<\/p>\n
If the action is commenced in the District Court, either\u00a0party may transfer the action\u00a0to the Housing Court (so long as\u00a0the premises are in the jurisdiction of one of the Housing Courts).\u00a0 The party seeking to \u00a0transfer the case must complete and file a transfer form in both the District Court and the Housing Court.\u00a0 \u00a0The transfer form is available in the District Court and the Housing Court.\u00a0\u00a0 The transfer forms must be filed in the Courts no later than the day before the trial date.\u00a0\u00a0 But\u00a0if a party does not timely file the transfer forms the Court may still allow a\u00a0transfer thereafter to the Housing Court upon a motion and a showing of <\/em>cause for the transfer.\u00a0 Once a request for transfer is received by the District Court\u00a0the trial date is \u00a0canceled and is later rescheduled by the\u00a0Housing Court.\u00a0\u00a0 A\u00a0delay of at least two weeks usually occurs before the Housing Court schedules a new trial dated.<\/p>\n At Topkins & Bevans we have years of experience in handling commercial and residential evictions on behalf of\u00a0landlords as well as\u00a0tenants.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have need of an eviction attorney please contact Topkins & Bevans so that a skilled attorney may assess your case and guide you through the process<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In handling evictions for landlords and tenants I often see some confusion regarding the process for filing the eviciton complaint. If the landlord properly follows the procedure then the the complaint is not subject to dismissal. But if there is an error in the process then the tenant will naturally move to dismiss the complaint based upon that error. What follows is brief overview of the process involved in the filing of an eviction complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,24,13,14,28,25,37,22,27],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-14-day-notice-to-quit","tag-eviction","tag-evictions","tag-foreclosure","tag-landlord","tag-non-payment-rent","tag-summary-process","tag-tenancy-at-will","tag-tenant"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}