Tenant Response to Eviction
A tenant must determine to respond after having been served with all the paperwork that starts an eviction actions. If the tenant fails to respond in time, or doesn’t respond, the tenant will probably like drop in court and won’t be given the chance to speak in front of a judge. Three types of answers are available: a motion to a demurrer strike and an answer. Each reaction is employed for a specific purpose and must be carefully drafted. Prior to responding a tenant should seek the advice of a lawyer if at all possible.
Time to Respond
A tenant has five days after the day he had been served with a copy of the summons and complaint in the event the tenant was served with these files in which to file a response. The time to respond is extended an extra five days for a total of 10 days if the tenant has been served by mail. Court holidays, Sundays and saturdays are not counted.
Motion to Strike
A tenant may file a motion to strike if the landlord’s complaint contains any false, irrelevant or improper things. If the complaint requests an award of compensation, A motion is most commonly used. By way of example, because punitive damages might not be granted in an eviction action, a landlord’s request for punitive damages is subject to a motion to strike. A motion to strike can be used in the event the landlord’s notice of flooding failed to state that the premises would be forfeited but the criticism does.
Demurrer
A tenant may file a demurrer to attack the legal sufficiency of the landlord’s criticism rather than the factual statements made in the complaint. The flaw must appear on the surface of the criticism. Common examples include filing in the wrong court, never alleging a necessary fact to establish grounds for flooding, failure to describe the tenant’s premises, failure to allege that the renter is still in possession, and failure to allege a default in rent and the total amount of rent due in the event the action was brought for failing to pay rent.
Answer
A response gives the renter the opportunity to admit or deny the allegation of your landlord’s complaint, and to raise any affirmative defenses. A denial imply that the tenant refutes a claim in the complaint, while an affirmative defense admits that one or more factual allegation are actually true, but that a lawfully recognized motive exists that excuses the tenant’s behaviour. By way of example, if the tenant claims that he paid the rent if the complaint alleges that the tenant didn’t do so, the tenant has denied that allegation. If instead the renter acknowledged that he failed to pay rent, but maintained that he did not pay rent since the premises have been uninhabitable, the renter is claiming an affirmative defense. A response can’t be registered in front of a motion to strike or a demurrer, but may be filed at the same time as either or both of these answers.
Impact of Response
If the tenant files a motion to strike or a demurrer, the court must set a hearing that addresses only the issues presented in this reaction. If the court denies the motion, the tenant must then file an answer if he wishes to contest the landlord’s complaint. If the court grants the motion, the court can either give the landlord time to fix the flaw, or dismiss the action entirely. In this case, the landlord would have to begin the eviction process all over again. If the tenant files an answer, the court will set a trial date.