You Need a Reason — and It Needs to Be Valid
The first thing every landlord needs to understand about eviction is that you cannot remove a tenant simply because you want them gone. A lease is a legal contract, and both sides are bound by its terms until it expires. Even month-to-month tenancies have protections that prevent arbitrary removal in most states.
To file for eviction, you need what the law calls "legal grounds" — a specific, recognized reason that justifies ending the tenancy through the court system. If you file without valid grounds, the court will dismiss your case, and you'll have wasted time and money while the tenant continues occupying your property.
The grounds available to you depend entirely on your state's landlord-tenant statute and, in many cases, local ordinances. However, certain grounds are recognized almost universally across the United States. Understanding these categories helps you identify which one applies to your situation and how to build your case around it.
Non-Payment of Rent
This is the most common reason landlords file for eviction, and it's the most straightforward to prove in court. The tenant agreed to pay a specific amount by a specific date, and they didn't pay. The math is simple, the evidence is clear, and judges see these cases every day.
To prove non-payment, you need to show the lease agreement specifying the rent amount and due date, your records showing that payment was not received, and a properly served notice giving the tenant the required number of days to pay or vacate. In most states, this is a "pay-or-quit" notice with a period ranging from 3 to 14 days depending on jurisdiction.
One important detail: most states give the tenant the right to cure the non-payment during the notice period. If they pay everything owed — including any legally allowable late fees — before the notice period expires, you cannot proceed with the eviction. The notice period is a mandatory opportunity for the tenant to make things right, not just a countdown to filing.
If the tenant doesn't pay within the notice period, you can file the eviction complaint with the court. At the hearing, your evidence is the lease, your payment records, and proof that you served the notice correctly. This is usually one of the faster eviction grounds to process through the court system.
Lease Violations
Beyond paying rent, tenants have other obligations under the lease. When they violate those obligations, it can be grounds for eviction — but the process is slightly different than non-payment cases.
Common lease violations that support eviction include unauthorized occupants living in the unit who aren't on the lease, keeping pets in a no-pet property, causing significant damage to the property beyond normal wear, engaging in excessive noise or disturbances that affect other tenants, using the property for commercial purposes when the lease specifies residential use, and subletting without permission.
For most lease violations, you must serve a "cure-or-quit" notice — giving the tenant a specific number of days to fix the violation or move out. If the violation is fixable (remove the unauthorized pet, stop the noise), the tenant has the right to correct it during the notice period. If they fix it, you can't proceed with eviction.
Some violations are not curable. If a tenant has caused severe property damage or has repeatedly violated the same lease term after being given a chance to cure, some states allow you to serve an unconditional quit notice — meaning no second chance, just leave. But the threshold for unconditional notices is high in most jurisdictions, and you need strong documentation to support it.
Documentation tip: For lease violations, photos, videos, written complaints from neighbors, inspection reports, and dated communication with the tenant are essential. Verbal warnings alone won't hold up in court. Every interaction should be followed up in writing.
Holdover Tenancy
A holdover tenant is someone who remains in the property after their lease has expired without signing a new lease or entering into a new agreement. This is a common situation that many landlords aren't sure how to handle.
When a lease expires, what happens next depends on state law and the terms of the original lease. In many states, if the tenant stays and continues paying rent and the landlord accepts it, the tenancy automatically converts to a month-to-month arrangement under the same terms as the original lease. In that case, the tenant isn't really a holdover — they're a month-to-month tenant with the same rights and protections.
A true holdover situation is when the landlord has made it clear they don't want to renew — typically through a written non-renewal notice served before the lease expires — and the tenant refuses to leave. In this case, you can file for eviction based on the expired lease.
The notice requirements for non-renewal vary by state. Some require 30 days notice, others require 60 or even 90 days, especially for tenants who have lived there for a long time. If you don't give proper non-renewal notice before the lease expires, you may be stuck with the tenant on a month-to-month basis until you properly terminate the tenancy.
Illegal Activity
If a tenant is using your property for illegal activity — drug manufacturing or distribution, running an illegal business, prostitution, or other criminal conduct — most states allow expedited eviction with shorter notice periods or no notice at all.
Illegal activity evictions are treated more seriously by courts because of the potential harm to the property, other tenants, and the surrounding community. In many states, you can serve an unconditional quit notice with a very short timeline — sometimes as few as 24 hours — and the tenant has no right to cure.
However, you still need evidence. A suspicion or a rumor isn't enough. Police reports, arrest records, complaints from neighbors, or observable evidence of illegal activity all strengthen your case. Some landlords work with local law enforcement before filing to document the activity and build a stronger eviction case.
Be cautious about acting on allegations alone. If you evict a tenant based on alleged illegal activity and can't prove it in court, you could face a wrongful eviction claim. Let the legal process do its job — it exists to protect both you and the tenant.
Health and Safety Violations
Tenants who create health or safety hazards in the property — hoarding to the point of fire risk, tampering with smoke detectors, blocking emergency exits, creating unsanitary conditions, or making unauthorized modifications that compromise structural integrity — can be evicted for endangering the property or other occupants.
These situations often overlap with lease violations since most leases include clauses about maintaining the property in a safe and sanitary condition. The eviction process is similar to other lease violations — notice to cure, opportunity to fix the problem, and filing if they don't — but courts may be more sympathetic to expedited timelines when there's an active safety concern.
Having a property inspection documented with photos and dates is critical evidence for these cases. Code enforcement reports or fire marshal citations are even stronger. Build your file before you serve the notice.
The specific legal grounds and notice requirements vary significantly by state. What qualifies as a valid eviction reason in one state may not apply in another. Check the eviction laws for your specific state before starting the process to make sure you're building your case on solid legal ground.
Grounds That Won't Hold Up
Equally important is knowing what you cannot use as grounds for eviction. Filing on invalid grounds wastes time, costs money, and may expose you to a retaliatory eviction claim.
You cannot evict a tenant for complaining about habitability issues, requesting repairs, contacting code enforcement, exercising their legal rights (like withholding rent in states that allow it for habitability reasons), filing a Fair Housing complaint, or for any reason related to a protected class. These are all considered retaliatory or discriminatory evictions and carry significant legal penalties.
You also generally cannot evict a tenant mid-lease simply because you want to sell the property, move in yourself, or raise the rent — unless your lease or state law specifically provides for these situations. Check your notice requirements and understand the court process before taking any action.