Evicting a tenant is a legal process. You cannot throw someone out of a rental or force them out without going through the court. The process can proceed quickly or slowly, depending on various factors.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly explains you must follow the law to properly evict a tenant. There are specific steps and timelines you must adhere to. To begin the process, you must give written notice.
Written notice
The first step in the eviction process is written notice. You must give this to your tenant prior to filing a case with the court. You will give the notice alerting your tenant to why you are proceeding with eviction. You must provide a 10-day notice for nonpayment of rent. For all other reasons, you will give a 15 or 30-day notice deepening on the length of the lease.
If you include eviction instructions in your lease, you may not have to provide notice. Most common is a waiver of the notice within the lease. If your tenant signs a lease with a waiver, then you do not have to provide notice.
You must post the notice on the tenant’s door or hand it to the person.
Lack of a notice
If you fail to give the tenant a written notice and you do not have a lease exception, then your tenant can ask the judge to dismiss the case. You would then have to restart the process.
It is essential to follow the law exactly when you want to begin the eviction process. If you make a misstep, it can cost you time and money to fix it.