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Wrongful evictions are an unfortunate and common occurrence throughout the country. Many renters of houses, apartments, or rooms have rights that protect them from being evicted without reason or for some unlawful reason. Landlords, however, tend to operate through a word of mouth or other non-legal methods, and in general, their tenants comply even without any legal reason to do so.
Renters often move because their landlords or other agents of the landlords issue some declaration or warning either in the form of a verbal or even written message. Unless these forms specifically state that it is an eviction, and give a legal reason for doing so, then the form is not an eviction notice. Many landlords issue these warnings, however, in order to get an unwanted tenant out or to raise the rent for future tenants.
Some landlords do what is called an invasion of private property and base their evictions on what they saw when they were illegally on the premises. These evictions are also illegal.
Some landlords will falsely say that they are doing a legal eviction. Unless the eviction notice is clearly written out explaining why you are being evicted, the landlord doesn’t have a right to evict you. Even if you receive an official looking eviction notice and you believe that it is unwarranted or illegal, the eviction may still be illegal and you may have rights that you don’t know about.
Harassment of a tenant to move out by a landlord is also illegal and can create several legal and monetary problems for the landlord. This harassment can include any verbal or physical actions made by the landlord or any representative of the landlord, including apartment managers and other tenants. If harassment occurs, the police can be called and a report made. By doing this, a tenant’s case is stronger in the long run and can be used in any future actions taken against the landlord or their agents.
If a person has moved out and is living in another place, they can still exercise their legal rights if they believe they moved out because of a wrongful eviction or the threat of a wrongful eviction. Landlords will often lie to tenants about their relatives moving into the unit, or that they need to repair the unit. Instead, the landlords frequently re-rent the unit to another person for a much higher rate. If this occurs, the previous tenant has the right to either regain rental access to the unit or recoup monetary damages stemming from the illegal eviction.
If a landlord does do what is called an “owner move-in” eviction, they must usually pay their current tenant some amount of money (sometimes as much as $1000 per occupant, depending on the rent and city) and must occupy the unit for a set amount of time, or have a direct close relative do so. Usually, this time is around three years. Check with your local rent board if you have any questions.
If push comes to shove there is no better strength than to have a lawyer on your side in the event of a wrongful eviction. An experienced lawyer can handle each step of your case and can obtain the maximum benefits for anyone who has been wrongfully evicted for any reason. If you or someone you know has been wrongfully evicted or threatened with eviction contact a law firm in your area through this site for a fast, free, no-obligation consultation about your particular case.
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