What It Means To Lose An Eviction Case

If you lost your case in the summary eviction hearing the judge will have entered a Judgment for Possession. The Judgment for Possession gives the landlord the right to evict you from the apartment. The Judgment for Possession does not allow the landlord to garnish your wages or attach any bank accounts you may have. However, it does give the landlord the authority to apply to the court for the issuance of the Warrant of Removal to have you evicted or removed from the property

After the Judgment for Possession is signed the clerk will issue a Warrant of Removal. The Warrant of Removal is the order issued by the court that gives the court officer (not the landlord) the power to remove you and your belongings from the apartment.

The landlord cannot get the court to issue the Warrant of Removal unless he/she first obtained a Judgment for Possession against you in your summary eviction hearing. Therefore, before the Warrant of Removal can be issued, you should have received a Summons and Complaint for tenancy court, and had an opportunity to present your defenses to the judge.

You should go to court. If you don’t go to court, the landlord may get a judgment against you. Always go to court unless the court says that you don’t have to attend a hearing.

Note: You will not be locked out on the day of the hearing. You do not have to leave the apartment until after you receive the Warrant of Removal. After you receive the warrant of removal you have three days to leave your apartment and the three days do not include weekends or legal holidays.

Other Circumstances

If you have not been able to find another place to live, or, other special circumstances make it necessary for you to go back to court to request permission to remain in the apartment for additional time you may be able to apply to the court at this time to be allowed to stay in the apartment. Examples of other circumstances are:

• You are sick, disabled or elderly.
• You are terminally ill.
• You did not appear in court because you were sick.
• You did what the landlord asked.
• You paid the rent that you owed.
• You did not have the money to pay your rent at the time of the hearing but now you have the money.
• You offered to pay all the rent that you owed to your landlord on the date of the hearing but he/she refused to accept it.
• You did not receive any notice of the problem before the landlord filed the complaint.
• You did not receive a summons and complaint from your landlord and the warrant for removal was the first court paper that you have received that tells you of any legal action against you.
• You did not appear in court because your landlord told you not to go to court.
• You did not appear in court because you entered into a settlement with landlord and he/she told you not to go to court.
• You have new proof showing that you should have won the eviction case.

This is not a complete list of reasons why you might apply to stay in your apartment. There may be other reasons which do not appear on this list. Even if the reason that you need to stay in your apartment is not on this list you may write it on the application that you will file with the court.

Can You Pay Your Rent?

The court will be more likely to allow you to remain in your apartment if you demonstrate that you can pay your rent. However in some situations the court may still allow you to stay in your apartment for a short time even if you cannot pay your rent.

For more detailed and specific information about what relief the court may be able to give you, choose from the options below: