Evictions From Start to Finish

Evictions are relatively straightforward, as far as lawsuits go. Having said that, for a non-lawyer, can still be complex confusing, and tedious. Use this overview to better understand the entire eviction process. This is not an exhaustive guide that will give you all the tools you need to file your own eviction. Instead, this article is meant to familiarize you with the eviction process, and introduce you to the basic concepts.

Serving a Termination Notice

Before an eviction action can be filed, the landlord must almost always serve the tenant with an eviction notice which terminates the tenant‘s tenancy. (The exception would be a case where the tenant‘s lease ended and the tenant refused to leave.) This is often the trickiest part of the entire process. The landlord or property manager must select the right type of termination notice form, fill the notice out correctly, and then properly serve the notice on the tenant.

Filing the Eviction Case

Once the eviction notice has been served, you must wait for the notice to expire. Once the notice expires, the tenant no longer has any right to stay in the property. But, to get them out, you will need to file a formal eviction case and get a court order for the sheriffs to remove the tenant. To file a case, you will need to provide the court with a copy of the eviction notice you served, sufficient proof that it was served correctly, a “summons and complaint” form that has been properly filled out, and declarations of nonmilitary service informing the court that the tenants are not presently active duty military.

Eviction cases can always be started online using Wisconsin’s efiling system. In most cases, landlords who are filing their own evictions can also do so in person at the courthouse.

Serving the Tenant With Court Papers

Once you file your case, the court will issue a “summons,” formally requiring the tenant to appear in court at a specific date and time to respond to the eviction case. This document, along with everything else you filed, has to be served on the tenant by process servers. Although you don’t need any special qualifications to serve the legal papers on the tenant, parties to the lawsuit can’t serve the papers themselves. In eviction cases, if the process servers try to serve the tenant at the rental unit, but can’t find them there, they can eventually post the papers on the door and mail them to the tenant. That type of service by “posting in mailing” is sufficient to give the court the power to evict the tenants.

Appearing in Court at the Return Date

When you file a small claims case, the court sets the case for a court hearing called a “return date.” The return date is a court proceeding where the court gives the tenant an opportunity to respond to the eviction. If the tenants fail to appear, the court will review the paperwork, and will evict the tenants if the proper paperwork has been filed. The court will look for a copy of the eviction notice, proof that it was properly served, a declaration of nonmilitary service showing that the tenant is not on active duty, and proof that the summons and complaint was correctly served on the tenant within the correct time frame.

If the tenant does appear in court, the court will ask them if they agree with what the landlord is telling the court, or if they dispute it. If the tenants dispute important facts, or raise a defense that, if true would get them out of the eviction, the court will set the case for an eviction hearing, where the judge will decide whether or not to evict them.

Appearing at the Eviction Hearing

If the case is scheduled for an eviction hearing, the landlord needs to have sufficient documentation and witnesses prepared in advance to prove that the landlord is entitled to an eviction. At the hearing, the landlord will testify, call witnesses, present documents, and otherwise prove its side of the story to the court. The defendant will then have an opportunity to present its own documents and testimony, and cross-examine any of the landlord’s witnesses. After the court has heard from all witnesses, the parties will make their closing arguments, and the court will decide whether or not to evict the tenant.

Hiring the Sheriff to Remove the Tenants

If the tenant is evicted, the court will sign a “writ of restitution” commanding the sheriffs to remove the tenant. It is the landlord’s responsibility to deliver that paperwork to the sheriff, and pay the appropriate fees. Landlords have 30 days to do so. Once the sheriff receives the paperwork, the sheriff must arrange to appear at the property within 10 days and remove the tenant. Sheriffs appear with or without movers, depending on the landlord’s request. On the date of the actual eviction, the sheriffs will meet with the landlord at the property to supervise the removal of the tenants and the changing of the locks. If movers are requested, the sheriff will supervise their removal of the tenant’s belongings from the rental unit.

Money Damages Court Dates

In most counties, when a defendant is evicted, courts schedule an additional return date for the landlord to request a money judgment against the defendants. A money judgment is essentially a legally binding “IOU,” documenting the tenant’s debt. Although a money judgment does not in itself force the tenant to pay, it can eventually allow other legal processes, such as garnishment, which would force the tenant to pay the landlord. At a money judgment return date, the landlord must present a list of all items the landlord is suing for, and sufficient proof to convince the court the claims are valid. If the tenant appears at the court date and doesn’t admit owing the money, the court may schedule hearings to decide who owes what, or order mediation to get the parties to try to work out a compromise.

Collecting Money Judgments

If the eviction case ends with a money judgment, there are additional actions that can be taken to try to collect on the money judgment. This process typically would start with orders for the tenant to provide the landlord with financial information about where they work and their assets, etc. The landlord can then use that information to try to garnish their wages, or seize their assets. Many rules govern this stage of a case, and indigent tenants can’t be forced to pay anything. In practice, most money judgments in eviction cases go unpaid unless the tenant voluntarily pays to keep the judgment of of their credit report.