And why does it take so long? Example -
http://katu.com/news/offbeat/college-sues-former-student-who-refuses-to-leave-dorm
Toss her shit into a bag and leave it at the main office. Tell security she is not allowed into that dorm. No?
People generally view being homeless as being worse than being denied the use of a piece of property. The legal system is weighed in favor of the person facing the greater hardship.
Is the example actually taking a long time? It looks like the school is dragging its feet, not being abused by the process. They wanted her out in the summer of 2016, but didn’t give her an eviction notice until September 2017, and presumably waited even longer to sue her.
Incidentally, I wonder if that didn’t hurt their ability to get rid of her quickly. Students in dorms are often exempt from landlord-tenant laws…but does that exception still apply, in that jurisdiction, to someone who is still in the dorm a year and a half after they ceased to be a student?
Better the landlord’s problem than the city’s problem.
Most of the time it doesn’t actually take very long at all. Generally it requires a 30-day notice period followed by a court process if they don’t leave. It’s possible to drag that court process out for a while, but in most cases it’s over and done with in one or two hearings. Then the sheriff comes and removes you if you don’t go quietly.
Why the university chose to take so long is anybody’s guess. There may also be special requirements in the case of a dorm vs. an ordinary residential lease.
No. As a tenant you have the right to occupy the leased space until a court says you don’t. Illegal eviction is a crime and someone who does it can end up in jail. (Hey, at least the rent there is free.)
Because landlords had a long history of evicting people just for giggles. One day late on the rent – you’re out, and we keep your security deposit. You have a different political opinion – you’re out and we keep your security deposit. Complain that the stove only had two burners – you’re out, and we keep your security deposit. My cousin needs a place to stay – you’re out and we keep the security deposit.
Oh, and you can’t afford to hire a lawyer, so any threat to sue me is a joke.
In response to these sort of abuses, laws were passed to protect tenant’s rights.
The student in the article says she plans to fight the case. But what can she (or a lawyer) possibly argue? She’s living there, and she isn’t paying rent. She’s not even a student anymore. 
Moved to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Procedural violations. If the landlord doesn’t jump through all the hoops, the eviction will be delayed.
How difficult it is to evict someone varies a lot depending on location within the US, it’s always a balance between the rights of the landlord and rights of the tenant. Generally ‘blue states’ and especially large cities have more tenant protections. NY and CA have notoriously tenant-favoring laws, and NYC, LA, and SF are especially far on the curve. In my state, if someone doesn’t pay rent, then you give them 30 days notice that you’re evicting them, schedule a trial, and then they get the option to be removed from the house by deputies or pay the back rent, upcoming rent, court costs for both sides, and late fees. But places like NYC where the story takes place, there are a lot of procedural exceptions, that can drag the process out, and woe to any landlord who makes a mistake somewhere in the process. It’s probably even worse for the college, because they’ve almost certainly got significant internal procedures and restrictive laws/regulations about kicking people out.
While I certainly don’t agree with ‘kick them out with no notice’, the CA/NY style ‘it can take a year or more to get someone who’s not paying rent out of your property’ isn’t reasonable either. It also encourages illegal or semi-legal activity to get people out, as well as more filtering by landlords against tenants (which can be pretty racist even if it’s hidden. It can be especially bad for amateur landlords, I don’t think I would ever consider renting a room in a house to someone in CA because of the risks.
Perhaps people old/informed enough about the bad old days can tell us about what it was like before occupant protection laws were put in place. It’s unfortunate when someone takes advantage of those laws and perhaps some elements could be changed but their tendency to err on the side of the occupant is well-founded.
Even in notoriously tenant-friendly jurisdictions, it’s extraordinarily rare for evictions to take longer than a year. Mostly it just means that the burden of proof is higher and standards of behavior for landlords are more stringently enforced. But the vast majority of evictions are over and done with in a couple months.
Ironically, when we decided to evict somebody from jail, we actually could just pack up their shit into a bag and throw the prisoner and the bag out on to the street.
Because there are more renters than landlords so they can abuse their political power to make life harder for the landlords.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
If college students were a powerful voting bloc, Bernie Sanders would be President.
As RealityChuck pointed out, landlords have a long history of abusing their powers. So laws were passed and I guess the pendulum swung the other way. Some of the behaviors mentioned still happen. A lot of people don’t know or assert their rights. Even today landlords like Jared Kushner regularly violate the laws and rights of tenants. When I was a child I was evicted at least twice for things like a black co-worker giving my mom a ride to work when our car wouldn’t start and the landlord wanting her nephew to have the house. Never behind on rent or anything else, just “Hey I’m the landlord and feel like kicking you out and it’s my property. Who cares that your 4 year-old kid will be homeless.”
To the OP, it’s not that hard everywhere.
I suspect this is true, that red states elevate property owner’s rights over those of tenants. As I understand it, Texas allows evictions when rent is one day late, with an “Unconditional Quit” notice giving the tenant 3 days to vacate. IME this is backed up by force, with deputies removing recalcitrant occupants to the street fairly quickly. Here, once eviction notice is given the landlord may refuse to accept rent, even a day later. It’s a great way for property owners to rid themselves of deadbeats with little hassle.
Anecdotal: My youngest is asst. manager at a high end complex in the Dallas area. I spent a day with her recently, just to see what it’s like. When prospective tenants asked about late fees, she explained there were none, just eviction - and it would start 48 hours after rent was due. Background checks were extensive, and I watched as eviction of a tenant was started after their kid was arrested on a drug offense. They were draconian about tenant behavior as well, (noise, pets, broken down cars, etc.). They even required DNA testing on pets so that any poo found can be matched to the tenant, and those who don’t clean up are evicted ($500 per offense, three strikes and you’re out).
I doubt laws/contracts like these would gain much traction in blue or coastal states, but they allow landlords a way to rid themselves of troublemakers, and ensure other tenants don’t have to live amongst druggies or criminals.
Memories of the love and two small children you once shared.
It happens in the UK too. When I worked for the NHS, the hospital at which I was based has some accommodation for student nurses. It was pretty basic; a small room with a single bed, a chair and desk, and a wardrobe. Showers etc were all shared. When they moved in, the signed a tenancy agreement which included things like No overnight visitors and I will leave when my three-year course ends. (There was a lot more but I am sure you can imagine).
The students were all female teens and the “No overnight visitors” rule was widely ignored. This wasn’t really a problem so long as no one complained, except when the student moved on and the boyfriend stayed. Due to a lack of communication, the manager of the accommodation often had no idea when a student left, so there were cases where the BF would move a new ‘friend’ in and stay on. (Rent was very low). Evicting them was a drawn-out process; the court would often give them three months to find an alternative, and if they stayed on, magistrates were still reluctant to send the bailiffs in. It usually took from six months to a year to get rid of them.
Because the process takes time, landlords make it a point to start the process as soon as they can. I was two days late on my rent once (I had it; I just forgot to send it in), and I got an eviction notice over it. The notice gave 30 days, and the landlord was quite happy to accept my rent plus late fee instead of evicting me (because it’s a lot of work for them to get the place ready for a new tenant and find that tenant), but they were ready for the possibility that I wouldn’t pay, and meanwhile I was sweating bullets.