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Eviction

Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord.

Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction is also known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among others. Nevertheless, the term eviction is the most colloquially used in communications between the landlord and tenant.

Depending on the jurisdiction involved, before a tenant can be evicted, a landlord must win an eviction lawsuit or prevail in another step in the legal process. It should be born in mind that "eviction," as with "ejectment" and certain other related terms, has precise meanings only in certain historical contexts (e.g., under the English common law of past centuries), or with respect to specific jurisdictions. In present-day practice and procedure, there has come to be a wide variation in the content of these terms from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. One should not assume that all aspects of the discussions below will necessarily apply even in all states or other common law jurisdictions.

Persons being named in eviction proceedings should be aware that they may be listed on unlawful detainer registries, in other words "blacklisted", and may have difficulty renting in the future.[citation needed]