Eviction stages: where you are, and what happens next
Page last updated: September 3, 2026 · How we source & update
Renters are usually told "you got a notice, get help". That is right, but it is not enough to act on: a notice and a court order are wildly different situations, and the useful question is which one you are holding. This map shows the stages in order. It gives no deadlines, because the deadline at every stage is set by your state and sometimes your city — your state page carries that.
First step, today: find yourself on the map below, then do the "what to do" line for that one stage. Do not skip ahead — each stage creates the record the next one needs.
Where this comes from: this is a process map, not a rule. It contains no deadlines and no dollar figures, because those are set by your state, city, lease and housing type — your state page carries the sourced rule with its citation and review status. This wording has not been attorney-reviewed.
The stages
The diagram above is decorative. Everything it shows is written out below, in the same order — that list is the real content, and it is what screen readers, printers and text browsers get.
- A · Nothing filed yet
A conversation, a warning, or a demand for rent. No paper with a court name on it.
What to do: Fix the underlying issue if you can, and put everything in writing from here on. What you can prove later starts now. - B · You have a NOTICE
A paper from the landlord — "notice to quit", "pay or quit", "notice to vacate", "cure or quit". It has no court case number.
What to do: A notice is a demand, not an order. You do not have to leave on a notice alone. Read every page, note the date you received it, and check your state page for the period that applies to this notice type. - C · A CASE HAS BEEN FILED
A summons, complaint or petition — now there is a court name and a case number.
What to do: This is the stage with a hard deadline, and it can be days. Find the response date on the papers. Get free legal aid today; many courts also have a self-help desk or duty attorney. - D · HEARING
A date to appear. Some courts decide the same day.
What to do: Bring your lease, every notice, proof of payment, your repair requests and your photos, in date order. Not appearing usually loses the case by default. - E · JUDGMENT
The court has ruled. If it went against you there is normally a short window before removal.
What to do: A judgment is not the end of every option — ask legal aid about a stay, an appeal, or agreed time to move. Ask before the window closes. - F · WRIT / ORDER OF POSSESSION
The order that authorises removal, carried out by a law-enforcement officer — never by the landlord personally.
What to do: Ask legal aid what time you have and what happens to your belongings. If the landlord acts without the officer, that is back to the self-help box above.
Branches and exceptions this map does not decide for you
- A defence can exist at any stage: rent actually paid or tendered, repairs the landlord refused, retaliation for a protected complaint, discrimination, defective notice or service, or a protection tied to subsidised housing, military service or domestic violence.
- A local just-cause rule can limit the grounds entirely in some cities and states.
- Whether any of these applies to you is exactly the question to put to free legal aid — this map will not answer it.
When this is urgent
Your state fills in the numbers
Every deadline, cap and remedy this map deliberately leaves blank is set where you live. The state page carries the rule we have sourced, its official citation, and whether it has been reviewed.
Change log & methodology
September 3, 2026 — created (RS-WEB-AUTHORITY-ACTIVATION-006). Built as stages rather than advice: each node states where you are and what the next decision is, and stops short of choosing for you where the choice is legally consequential. No statutory number appears anywhere on this page by design. Corrections: tell us.