Landlords in Jackson who want to evict a tenant cannot simply kick the tenant off their property. There is a legal eviction process that must be followed. Madison County is subject to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which dictates how a tenant must be notified of the eviction, among other requirements. These requirements must be met for the eviction to be lawful.
Under the URLTA landlords must provide tenants who have not met their rent obligations or in some other way violated their lease with a 30-day notice of eviction. This notice must include how much the tenant owes in rent or which part of the lease was violated. The notice must also state that the tenant has 14 days to remedy the breach. If the tenant does not remedy the breach, then the notice must inform the tenant that the lease will be terminated in 30 days, and the landlord will pursue eviction.
However, it should be noted that some leases include provisions in writing that imply that if a tenant fails to meet their rent obligations after so many days, this is enough to meet the 30-day notification. In addition, if the tenant remedies the breach, but within six months breaches the lease in an identical way, the landlord is only obligated to provide the tenant with a 14-day notice that the lease will be terminated. In this situation, it is not mandatory that the tenant be given a chance to remedy the breached provisions in the lease.
Also, in particularly egregious situations wherein the tenant causes substantial damage to the property or has threatened physical harm or did physically harm the landlord, another tenant or someone in the tenant’s household, then landlords are only obligated to provide tenants with a three-day notice that the tenant must vacate the premises.
These are only the initial notification requirements landlords must follow. There are requirements if a tenant refuses to vacate, requirements regarding informing the tenant of court dates and requirements for eviction hearings. Ultimately, landlord-tenant issues can be complex. For this reason, landlords who believe they have a reason to evict a tenant may want to seek advice from a real estate attorney, so they can make informed decisions on how to move forward with the eviction process.