Commercial and Residential — Evictions, Lease Drafting, Lease Review
What Can We Do for you?
At Atlantic Coast Law, we recognize that evicting a tenant can be a difficult situation and must be handled with the utmost professional care. We also realize that at times a tenant must be evicted as quickly as possible to both limit the landlord’s financial loss and ensure a safe community.
Because of the needs of our clients, we work both strategically and diligently to ensure the eviction process occurs as timely and efficiently as possible. We obtain this efficiency through utilization of technology, well-organized internal processes, and simple hard work.
Our approach to managing the eviction process provides us the ability to serve clients ranging from individuals with one rental unit to real estate management companies that have thousands of rental units. If you are looking for a law firm to handle your evictions in a timely and professional manner, please contact Atlantic Coast Law.
When Can a Tenant Get Evicted?
In general, a tenant can be evicted based on the terms of the lease, North Carolina law, or federal law. If the rental unit is Section 8 housing, then federal law applies. A tenant can be evicted based on their actions or the actions of a guest. Common grounds for eviction include: failure to pay rent, damaging the property, and committing a crime either on or off the premises. Sometimes minor incidents involving the tenant or their guest, such as being excessively noisy or having overnight guests, can lead to eviction if the behavior occurs on multiple occasions.
What is the process to evict a tenant?
The eviction process depends on how the tenant breaks the lease. The eviction process generally includes the following steps:
- Notifying the tenant of the breach of the lease
- Drafting and filing a complaint with the Clerk of Court
- Serving the tenant with the complaint
- Attending the trial in Small Claims Court
- Seeking a Writ of Possession from the Clerk of Court
- Performing the “lock-out”
- Removing the tenant’s personal property from the premises.
What is the “lock-out”?
The “lock-out” is when the Sheriff goes to the rental unit, removes the tenants from the residence, and locks the doors. During the lock-out, a licensed locksmith will be present to change the locks. After the lock-out, the tenant will have a set timeframe to contact the landlord to re-enter the rental-unit to remove any of their personal belongings. Once this timeframe expires, the landlord can then remove any remaining property. The type of property remaining in the rental-unit must be discarded based on the many landlord and tenant laws.
What happens to the deposit at the end of the rental period?
The deposit must be returned to the tenant within a set timeframe unless the landlord has valid grounds to” keep” the deposit. Generally, the landlord can “keep” the deposit for such expenses as unpaid rent and repairing damage to the rental unit caused by the tenant and their guests.
The eviction process has many laws that must be followed carefully. If you wish to speak to an attorney about an eviction, please contact Atlantic Coast Law.
