Virginia Eviction Notice: Fill & Download for Free

As I often have to say in dealing with rental questions, it depends on the local laws. Also, let’s look at terms. This question specifies “serving an eviction notice.” The landlord does not serve an eviction notice. An eviction is the result of a court order, so notice is served through agents of the local government, usually a sheriff’s deputy.“Serving an eviction notice” is not the same as the actual eviction. First a notice is served on the tenant. (And in some states, first, a notice called an unlawful detainer must be served and that’s followed by another hearing and an eviction notice.) The notice basically says, “Eviction is going to be on this specific day.” When the date of the eviction arrives, in most states, a local deputy will show up and notify the tenant (if they’re still there) that they’re being evicted. In Virginia, they also ask about weapons and confiscate them for the duration. I haven’t done an eviction in years, but, if I remember, the officer stays for the length of the eviction, to make sure the evictees don’t cause trouble.A landlord can’t disconnect utilities just because notice is served. However, they can disconnect them on the date of the eviction.Question, as answered: Can a landlord disconnect the utilities to an apartment after serving an eviction notice?

What are my rights when I'm handed an eviction notice? How far can I take and fight for my right to live here?First, you have some good answers here already. I hope you’re looking for answers that provide factual information and not just telling you what you want to hear. Ivan , Bruce Feldman, and Terry Lambert have already provided good answers. I’m going to give you an answer that includes a lot of what they’ve said, but organizes it differently.First, when you say “eviction notice,” anyone who has worked with tenants is not sure what you mean, and that’s not your fault. I’m also going assume, for simplicity, you’re in the U.S., since I can’t tell you a thing about how other countries handle evictions. I see that, at one point, “San Francisco Bay Area” was a topic, too, but Quorabot removed it. So I’m guessing you’re in that area. California has some special laws regarding landlord tenant law that not all states have. (In fact landlord tenant law varies from state to state and sometimes even localities within a state they vary from locality to locality.The reason we’re not sure what you mean is because there are multiple steps in an eviction and many tenants will see any paper they receive that indicates they might have to leave as an “eviction notice.” First, there is a multistep process to go through for an eviction. I’ve heard many tenants refer to any step in the process as an “eviction notice.” Depending on what you’ve actually received, it could determine what you can do. Second, there are possible ways a landlord can ask a tenant to leave that I’ve seen people also refer to as an “eviction notice” that are not evictions.So, again, what you can do depends on exactly what the situation is. So let’s take a quick look at the eviction process and what you could mean. While this is pretty similar in most states, I’m going to talk about it in Virginia, since that’s the state where I’ve worked as a property manager and owned rental properties.Eviction Process:Pay or Quit/Notice to Quit: This can be called a number of things in different states. It’s basically a notice that says, “Pay up what you owe on the rent or we will proceed with the eviction process.”Unlawful detainer: I know this definitely goes by a lot of different names in different states. After the first step, if a tenant has not paid up their rent, the landlord files for an unlawful detainer. This is the first step that involves the courts and is a court order basically stating that the tenant no longer has a right to live in the apartment and the right to possess and control it reverts to the landlord.Eviction Notice: Basically the last notice, which is saying, “The court has ordered you to vacate the property and on this specific day, a deputy will be there to make sure you and your possessions are removed from the property.”Eviction: This is not a notice, at least not a paper one. It’s when the deputy shows up, makes sure you don’t have any guns, or, if you do, he confiscates them for the process, escorts you away from the apartment, and oversees the removal of all your possessions.Other Possible “Evictions”:It’s possible the landlord may simply be terminating your lease. They can do that (and so can you). The conditions for that are spelled out in the lease. Maybe they’re giving you a 60 or 30 day notice and the end of the lease. They can also decide to simply not renew your lease, which, again, includes a 30 or 60 day notice.There may also be cases where a tenant is evicted for other reasons. When I was first married, we lived in a mediocre apartment complex and, after a while, some really obnoxious guys moved in next door. They had no sense of consideration for anyone and played loud music at all hours of the day and night. Requests for them to quiet down had no effect. Complaints to the rental office had no effect. One night they had a party that was so loud tenants I knew on the other side of the parking lot couldn’t get to sleep until 4 AM! (Now I know that after 11 PM, we should have just called the cops on them, but by not doing so, this worked out better.) One day, early the next week, I was working at home and heard the guys come in and start screaming in anger. Yep. They had received an eviction notice and had to clear out. It had nothing to do with rent and everything to do with the noise. Even in a case like this, the landlord would have provided advanced notice about what the problem is and that it must be remedied.Your Rights:First, remember, the landlord has more rights than you. While we’re talking about your home and where you live, remember, it’s the landlord’s property. He (or she) owns that building. The legal process is going to be more focused on the landlord being able to keep control of the building. There is also a good part of the process to make sure the landlord cannot just kick you out for no good reason, so you have that on your side. But be aware that the law tends to favor the landlord.Non-renwal/Simple Termination: If the landlord has decided to not renew your lease, there’s nothing you can do. That’s the same as if you had decided to not renew your lease. The lease is an agreement between two parties and either one can refuse to renew it or terminate it at the proper time.Eviction: If you have actually received a notice to evict, and I specifically mean a notice with a date when they’re going to show up and make sure you leave, then there’s not much you can do. First, talk to a lawyer. None of us here can give you legal advice! Depending on the state, you may be able to appeal the notice, but it’s also quite possible that if it’s reached this point, there may be no appeal. Be aware that if what you’ve received is an actual eviction notice, it’s unlikely a judge would want to block it. Unless you can show a judge why you haven’t been able to be at the eviction hearing (and, yes, it’s a hearing and you would receive notice), and why they should reconsider, it’s not going to go well.(And by “why they should reconsider,” that doesn’t include, “But we’ll find the money and pay the rent, and it’ll never happen again,” or, “We’ll stop doing what they don’t want us to do.” It would have to be something clear and compelling.)Remember, in the case of an eviction, especially if it’s rent related, there have been multiple steps along the way, including two court hearings where you would receive notice, where you could have opposed it. If you didn’t, then you weren’t asserting your rights at a time when they might have helped.Unlawful detainer: At this point, they’ve gone before a judge and asked for a ruling that the apartment should be in their name, not yours. If this is the case, again, talk to a lawyer. See if they’ll accept the back rent due or if you can work out an agreement to let you stay if you remedy whatever situation is the cause of the eviction. Again, it would have made more of a difference if you were at the hearing.Pay or Quit: Also Notice to Quit and other names. This is the document that says, “Pay all past rent or we will evict.” The best thing you can do now is pay all back rent. If you can’t do that, then see if you can negotiate with them to work something out. At this point, if you can’t pay full rent due, it’s at their discretion what to do.Other Notices: If you have received a notice about other issues, such as noise issues or anything else, then the thing to do is talk to the landlord before it reaches eviction. Listen to them and do what you can to satisfy their concerns.How far can I take and fight for my right to live here?That varies, but, basically, what you can do is get a lawyer and show up for any hearings to come. (For instance, if the notice you’ve received is merely asking you to pay up rent, there are several hearings that will still happen. Be there for them, with a lawyer.) If it’s an actual eviction notice, again, get a lawyer and let him get you a court date to appeal it. If you try to do that yourself, you’re likely not going to get anywhere.Remember, though, you may have already lost the right to live there. If you did not pay full rent and they went through the entire process and you did not show up in court, and they’ve given you an eviction notice, you’ve essentially lost your right to live there.If they sent you notice about you damaging the apartment, having a pet when one is not allowed, or noise issues, or anything else that may be a violation of the lease, and it’s gone to the point where you have received an actual eviction notice, then, again, you’ve actually lost the right to live there.And, as I said, if it’s simply a lease termination, then even going to court won’t help, since they have the right to do that, as long as they follow the terms of the lease.

I lived in a Richmond Virginia ghetto for seven years. A neighborhood listed as one of the top 10 most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation.A drug-infested, crime-ridden Federally-recognized Food Desert where I had to chase trespassing hookers out of my backyard and kids used their new Christmas BB guns to shoot the leg off my cat for fun:It was exactly the opposite of extra cash flow that I landed there. I did not want to be there, but it was all I could afford.My husband, through no fault of his own, had lost his job. Grrrrreat! We are now officially victims of the Great Recession of 2008! My husband spent the next year applying at every bank in a 500-mile radius; in the throes of the Recession, no banks were hiring. He got not one interview. Depressed and upset and angry, he stopped looking for work and sat down to become an alcoholic. While I worked 50 hours a week trying to keep up with a mortgage we couldn’t afford on my one paycheck.It took 3 years, and a great deal of hardship and sacrifice, including nine months without hot water because I couldn’t pay the gas bill, and handouts from food banks, but ultimately we foreclosed and lost the house. Our once-perfect credit was completely destroyed, and seeing the writing on the wall, I had spent a year trying to find a new address. Even if I could afford the rent on my salary alone, landlords refused to look past the ruined credit.In 2011, we were two weeks from being evicted by the bank and being homeless when I met the slumlord who overlooked the credit report and rented me a shack in “da hood.”Embarrassed, ashamed, and angry, I refused to allow my drunken unemployed husband to move to the ghetto with me. “I love you, but you need to get your shit together and get sober and employed before you can join me.” He went to live with his mother; I lived in a shack in “da hood.”For the first time in years, I could pay my bills. There wasn’t a lot left over, and I hated my new house and my new neighborhood, but I could pay my bills. And I continued to work my two jobs and scrimp and sacrifice to rebuild my savings and my credit record, because there is no way in fucking hell that this damned pit is going to be my “forever home!” There is at least one more moving van in my future!Meanwhile, my husband had no income and no bills at his mother’s house. And he decided that living with me, even with all the hardship and the anger, had been better than living with Mom. He decided to quit smoking, quit drinking, resume the job search. He decided that since the banks were not hiring, to become employed, he needed a new career. So his mother bought used textbooks and paid for certification tests and my husband landed a new job in IT.For Christmas that year, three years after I had landed in the ghetto, I gave him a key to the shack, and he moved in. My income more than doubled. Whoo hoo! I can afford to quit my second job! We can afford to move out of “da hood!”We didn't.My credit was still ruined, and I still didn’t have much in the bank. We were not ready for a mortgage. But if we continued to live as we had, my salary could continue to cover the bills at the shack, and my husband’s salary could be 100% banked into our savings account. So instead of jacking our rent and throwing away more of our money to another landlord for a better rental address, we continued to live in the ghetto and I continued to work two jobs to rebuild our credit and our savings.A year after my husband moved in, I gave $300 to the bank that agreed to open a secured credit card account for me. A $300 limit wasn’t much, but it was enough to responsibly use to pay for groceries and gasoline and pay off in full every month. I never missed a payment, and I never paid interest. And slowly, my credit improved.And every two weeks I was putting hundreds of dollars in our savings.Eventually, I was able to open a second unsecured credit account. Almost ten years after the Great Recession, a bank was willing to trust me with $500 of their money! And eventually, there was a third new unsecured rewards credit card with a $7000 credit limit and $10k in the savings account. Tentatively, we applied for a mortgage prequalification. Just before Christmas 2016, we received an acceptance letter. I wept.For a year, we were working with an agent, casually shopping Richmond real estate, and not finding anything suitable. Part of the reason for the difficulties was my Recession-induced insistence on not being overextended on our mortgage. We could realistically have afforded better properties than the ones we were shopping, but I am never going to lose the roof over my head again because someone else lost a job. Lesson learned, thank you very much!!Then two weeks before boarding a plane to Orlando for our first vacation in almost a decade, my slum landlord sent me an eviction notice. After seven years of never missing a rent payment, including during the four months in 2014 when I had no income at all because I’d broken my arm without health insurance and couldn’t work, my landlord had sold my shack and gave us 90 days to get out.The only thing holding us in Richmond was my job, and I was not confident about that since a management change. I told my husband to find a realtor in Florida who could reserve a full day for us the week we would be there.We gave up a day’s worth of prepaid theme park tickets to spend a full 15-hour day with a realtor, viewing every property available in our price range. We made two offers before returning to Orlando to continue our vacation. And a seller accepted. We signed the contract before we boarded the plane to return to Richmond and spend the next six weeks in a whirlwind packing up the ghetto shack and moving to a dream address at a Florida beach.We’ve been here just over a year now, and we are deliriously happy. I still pinch myself. There’s still a small voice in the back of my head that whispers 24/7 “OMG we live in Florida! OMG we really live in Florida!”I have a lemon tree in our backyard.When given the choice between living in a safe area with a tight budget or in a high-crime area with shootings and more cash flow, I chose the ghetto. I was burglarized not once but twice, my cat had her leg shot off, a bullet barely missed me while I was standing in my kitchen during Christmas Eve’s celebratory gunfire, my neighbors totaled my car for me while it was parked on the street,we were vandalized multiple times and I was constantly running hookers, addicts, homeless, and dealers off our property but it was all worth it. I lost UPS packages off our porch, electronics, jewelry, appliances, my car. I replaced damaged doors, window glass, our mailbox, auto glass including the $700 dollars to replace a vintage Corvette windshield, auto antennas and tires. It was worth it. I rebuilt my credit, my savings, my marriage, and secured a mortgage in a place I never dreamed I’d ever actually make it to before retirement, if ever.It was hard, and took too many years, but it’s all good. We’ve rejoined the middle class in a safe neighborhood in a tropical paradise for which other people pay thousands to vacation for a week. Now I’m on vacation 52 weeks a year. The thugs who shot my cat and hit-and-ran over my Corvette will never be able to say that.Oh, and that secured credit card? The one that was our first handhold to climbing out of the pit? The annual fee is due in January. I made the request; I received my new upgraded annual-fee-free unsecured credit card and the check returning my $300 last week.That was the last remnant of the bad times. The ghetto is officially behind us. And when we’re standing in our backyard looking at our lemon and nectarine trees and our hibiscus and pineapple bushes, facing south, the ghetto is actually behind us. About 700 miles behind us. And the ocean is three miles that way.