Dealing With Evictions (l.s.d.)

If your landlord is trying to evict you or if you are afraid he may try in the future, you need to know what steps he must take in order to do so. This article deals with that process of eviction (called "summary possession of land" in legal terms) - the respective rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants will come in a later article.

To evict you, your landlord must: 1. Give you a written notice to quit. If the eviction is for not paying the rent this notice must be given at least seven days before the eviction is begun. If the eviction is for any other reason, the notice must be as far in advance as the period of rent payment. If, for instance, you are being evicted because you have pets (and that violates your lease) and you pay your rent on a monthly basis, you must be given one month's notice to quit.

2. Serve you with a proper summons. Generally, the summons to appear in court will be issued 6 days before the date of the hearing, it must be served on you at least 2 days before the court date. (In Wayne County these periods will be 10 days and 3 days). If for some reason the landlord is unable to find you to give you the summons, he may tack it to your door under some circumstances.

3. Give you a copy of his complaint. The complaint must state exactly how much rent is due and for what months it is due. If it does not, you should ask for a bill of particulars when you get to court. The complaint must also have attached to it a copy of the lease. If it does not, move to strike the complaint when you get to court. It is not sufficient for the landlord to hand you one before the hearing. If the landlord fails to follow any of these procedures exactly, you should protest to the court and ask the judge to dismiss the action. The landlord can and probably will just start the procedure all over again, but you've won some time and maybe saved some rent money.

Even if the landlord has followed all the procedures, you still have three basic defenses:

1. Retaliatory eviction. If there is any evidence that the landlord is evicting you or raising your rent because you complained to any authorities about the conditions of the house, raise the defense of retaliatory eviction. Eviction, for this reason, is illegal in Michigan.

 2. Fair Rental Value. If you have a place that is so rundown that it violates city codes and is not worth the rent you pay, raise this defense. You may ask for a jury to determine the fair value of the place - this will delay the proceedings some more but costs 10 dollars. The judge will also order that you pay your normal rent until the action is finally decided and a fair rent established.

3. Satisfaction. This defense means that you have actually paid the rent. If the landlord follows the correct procedures and manages to get a judgment against you because you did not show up, you still have the right to set aside that default judgment if you (1) have good reasons for missing the court date, and (2) have a good defense (like those above) to his action. You must file a motion to set aside the default judgment with the court where the judgment was obtained.

Just because the landlord gets his judgment does not mean he can immediately throw you out. At least 10 days must pass before he can act on the judgment. There is also a legal argument that the period is 20 days, not 10.

Finally, you should realize that damage deposits are a rip-off. Landlords overstate or invent damages, forcing you to go to court to get your money back. The way to avoid this is not to pay your last month's rent (or last 2 months' if you paid a month in advance) and force him to go to court to collect for damages. This article is a general one. If you intend to defend yourself against eviction, you should read the statutes involved. The people at Legal Aid (665-6181) or the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (763-3102) will turn you on to where to look. If you want the help of a lawyer and are poor or a student you can also go to those organizations.