If a landlord agrees to accept your rent late, can he still file for an eviction?
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If a landlord agrees to accept your rent late, can he still file for an eviction?
Talked with landlord one day that rent was going be late. I told him when I would have the full amount. He said that it would be OK. The next day he placed a letter on my door to vacate by the weekend. I tried to contact him but he would either tell me he was in a meeting or busy and couldn’t talk with me. The day after that, an officer served papers of eviction on us.
Asked on October 11, 2011 under Real Estate Law, South Carolina
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
In your situation apparently your landlord can accept late rental payment from you and then serve you with an eviction notice. The issue is are you on a month-to-month lease for your rental? If so, the landlord clearly can serve you with a termination notice of your lease after he or she accepts a late rental check from you even though his or her acceptance of the late payment indicated to you no negative fall out.
The eviction papers are essentially a notice to you that the landlord wants you to vacate the rental you are occupying. You have the option to continue paying rent and see if the landlord will file and serve you with an unlawful detainer action. If that happens, you have the option of filing an answer to the proceeding and fighting the eviction.
Good luck.
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