Cannot pay rent. What are my rights?

Hello!
My name is Dolan and thank you so much for contacting me!
I just had a few quick questions for you:
What is a reason you're behind on rent and have you discussed this with your landlord?

You got it; did they send you a notice to pay rent or quit? How many days did they give you?

Understood! So you're just wondering what it is you can do here, correct? This is a residential tenancy?

Not to worry - I can help give you a sense of what you can do and what the rules are.

Ok! Did you need to tell me anything else? If not, I can start with answering your question.

Ok! I've been working on an answer while we've been chatting, so it'll just be a moment.

I'm so sorry about this situation! I want to address your situation with a detailed response, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask because this law stuff can get complicated. Sometimes, there are situations that can be really hard to get out of legally. One of them is if there is when a tenant is this far in the eviction process. By this stage, things have reached a point where it is difficult to find an easy way out. There are a few upsides though:

• The landlord has to provide to you a notice of at least 3 days to pay the rent or leave the property;
• If the third day lands on a non-business day, it gets pushed to the next day;
• If you pay the rent or even pay partial rent, it stops any eviction proceedings;
• The law does not let the landlord lock you out without first taking you to court if you do not pay or leave (more on that below).

This means that there are some important options you have to explore. You could:

• Find out specifically what the landlord may want to allow you to stay, even just a little longer. Sometimes, it’s just money, a promise that you may leave on a specific date, or something else. Even if a person isn't behind on rent, offering some money to delay a court ordered eviction helps;
• Come up with a backup plan. Try out justshelter.org; if you’re stuck in a position where you can’t find housing ASAP, this website helps you find suitable housing right away;
• Try 211.org;
• Try benefits.gov;
• Family and friends can help in a pinch;
• Ask the landlord if they’d be willing to just keep your security deposit;
• Ask the landlord if they would just rent to you on a prorated basis (e.g. you only pay for the days you’re there).

Like I mentioned earlier, the law generally prohibits landlords from physically removing tenants from the property or forcing tenants off the property by shutting off their lights, water, gas, or changing the locks without a court order. These are called “self-help” evictions and if a landlord engages in them, the landlord could be liable to the tenant for money damages. The law requires they sue you for the eviction, so if they want you out, they have to take you to court. The process for this can take months, and you even have a chance to raise defenses to their eviction as well.

Does that help clarify things? I want to make sure I didn’t leave anything out.

You've got it. You can't just be thrown out. This buys you time to try to work out something with the landlord. If you can't, the eviction process can take about 30-45 days depending on how quickly the landlord goes about it, so you can use what I suggested as a plan to help yourself now and then have a backup plan if it all goes down the drain for you.

Correct! Even if you pay $1. You still owe, but they can't evict for that unpaid rent.

It can go on for a while like that; as long as they take payment, you're good!

Good question! He does not have to take the payment, so please keep that in mind. However, even a partial payment will restart the clock for you.

So generally with an eviction, a landlord cannot just kick a tenant out.
The law requires that the landlord:

• File a case in a local court;
• Serve their tenant with a copy of the complaint and summons;
• The tenant has usually anywhere between 5-7 days to reply;
• Go to a hearing; and
• If the tenant loses, the landlord gets a judgment, that they then have to take to the sheriff who comes to the property usually within 10 days to post a 24-hour notice to vacate.

So if he doesn't take payment, that's how the process would go.

It sure does! Sometimes, they lock it to prevent it and force you to deal with the landlord, but if the system accepts a partial payment, it's deemed accepted. If they send it back, it doesn't do anything. It just means they waive their right to the rent.

Imagine they went to a judge and said they accepted payment, but then changed their mind. A judge would ask why they are even bothering trying to evict in the first place!

You got it!

For sure! We can also do things like review documents (typically for a flat fee) and you get a 10% discount as a member. So please come on back any time!