How To Write Eviction Letters

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ScottFicek | Jul 27, 2010 |

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If your tenant stops paying their rent, is violating a lease provision or is causing other issues at your property, you may need to send them an eviction letter. This is a non-binding, non-legal document that puts the tenant on notice that their current behavior must change immediately or else you will be forced to file an eviction on them. Here are some thoughts on filling out an eviction letter:

Before ever sending a letter, you must be 100% confident that you can prove the allegations that you are alleging in the letter. Eviction letters are the pre-cursor to a filing an eviction. You do not want the tenant to call your bluff and force you to try and prove a weak case in court. You will be wasting your time and money.
Make sure that you have documented any non-financial problems. This proof can include police reports, signed affidavits from neighbors and other residents that witnessed the behavior. As you can imagine, police reports are probably the best proof as they are considered expert witnesses and rarely is their judgment challenged.
Write the eviction letter in a professional and courteous manner. Using strong language may have the opposite affect that you think and actually turn the tenant against you because they feel threatened. Have another person read the letter before you send it to help you insure it written properly.
Make sure to specify the exact problem, how it has to change and by when. Without designating when it must stop by, you give them no deadline. Once the deadline passes and the tenant does not comply, you should file the eviction notice.
If you have any concerns about your case or how to write the letter, consider hiring an attorney to handle it for you. For a small fee, you can have someone review your case and handle the legal part of the process.

Writing an eviction letter is a great way to bring your tenant into compliances, without having to file an entire eviction on them.