How to Respond to Lease Violation Notice | 15 Methods No one Tells You

When your landlord believes that you have violated to lease, they will intimate you by sending a notice to you. You can respond to the notice against the lease violation by giving them a written document that you are not committed to violating the lease and talking with the landlord. If your landlord is not agreed to listen to your defence, you will have to defend yourself by applying for the lawsuit. Therefore, if you want to know the proper process for responding to a lease violation notice, keep reading and learn how to respond to lease violation notice.

How to Respond to Lease Violation Notice

Negotiating with the landlord

Carefully read the quiet and cure notice sent by the court, as it depends on the jurisdiction the landlord will give you notice before filing an eviction suit. It will define what you have violated and specify the fixed time to resolve the issue. If you don’t resolve the issue by the specified time, the landlord will end your lease. 

For example, in the lease notice, you cannot keep the pets, use the common areas, and use grills outside. If you have failed to pay the rent, then you will get the pay and quit notice. So have to pay the liable rent before the deadline.   

Document for violation of the lease by mistake

It might happen that the landlord had mistakenly accused you of violating the lease. For instance, someone else has committed the lease violation if you live in the apartment on rent. Get the letters and emails from the neighbours.

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For instance, the landlord misunderstands that you have pets, and your neighbour can witness you that you don’t have pets. Similarly, if you are suspected of damaging your apartment, take the pictures and make videos of your apartment lacking damage.

Write a letter to your landlord

Write a letter to your landlord in which you mention that you have not violated the ((lease)) and about disputing the allegations. Format the letter like a formal business letter, and keep your tone formal but polite and friendly. You can write like this, dear Mr Russ; I received a letter from you to cure or quit, as according to the notice you mentioned that I have a pet, but I don’t have a pet in real. Instead, my new neighbour has a dog.

I have attached the email of another neighbour living upstairs who witnesses that my neighbour keeps the dog; I would be obliged to further discuss the issue with me and resolve the misunderstanding. You can send this conversation in the mail to your landlord.

Mediate the dispute

If you are a good tenant and always pay rent on time, your landlord will not want to lose you. If the case is so, your landlord will resolve the dispute to solve the problem verbally, which will be better for both parties. The mediator will listen to both parties’ opinions and advise you about the solution you can rely on, as mediation are a good alternative to retain the landlord-tenant relation. So you can opt for mediation if you don’t want to move. 

Cure the problem if necessary

If you have violated the lease and don’t want to move, you have no other choice other than to solve the problem. It would help if you tried to resolve it before the deadline. Therefore you should inform your landlord as soon as possible that you have solved the violation issue and you want to live in the apartment.

Responding to an eviction lawsuit

Your landlord can not throw you out if you don’t voluntarily leave the apartment unless they can file an unlawful detainer action lawsuit in court. Then you will get the summons along with the copy of the complaint filed, as the summons will define the deadline to respond to the lawsuit. You should keep in your mind the due date of that notice.

Learn asking help from lawyer.

Document for self-help

If your landlord will try to evict you, then it is illegal. Instead, they can file a lawsuit and can get an order from the court to evict you. You can document your landlord for the action he took; for instance, your landlord cannot: 

• Throw you and your property out
• Change the locks
• Threaten you physically
• Order you to quit
• Cut off the connections of your apartment

Draft your response

You can respond to the notice given you by the court to each allegation and can raise your defence. Your court will fill in the blank, but alternatively, local legal help organizations offer printed answer forms. You can raise your defences in many ways depending on the situations and conditions. It will help if you are sure about the evidence you provided before raising the defence. Commonly used defences include insufficient notices, self-help, ((rotatory eviction)), and housing discrimination.

Provide a copy of the response to your landlord

Give the copy of your response to your landlord on the court hearing date. As you have to arrange it, you file your answer. You should hire any adult person to provide the answer who is not involved in the lawsuit. Otherwise, you can email your answer as well.

File your countersuit with the court

Make several copies of your answers, keep one copy with yourself and take the original copies of this response to the court clerk. Ask the clerk to file the original one, but you can also file a countersuit in case of retaliatory eviction or discrimination. You don’t have to pay for this process, but this aspect varies for different courts.

Going to the court

You will receive the date of your hearing in the mail, you have to attend the hearing for must, and if, in any case, you miss it, the court will enter the judgment against you in any case. 

Get the witness and documents

You have to give the judge why you shouldn’t be evicted at the time of the hearing. You have to ensure the identification of the witness who has got useful information and the documents. For instance, if you got insufficient notice, the court will want to see a copy.

If the landlord got the self-help, you have to provide a copy of the police report and the statement of the witness who had seen the landlord throwing your belongings. If the landlord is retaliating against you, you must copy your complaint to the ((safety and health department)) and the issued report. Moreover, if the landlord discriminated against you illegally, arrange a witness who has seen the harsh behaviour of your landlord. 

Present your argument

If you want to have a good impression of the judge, you should be dressed professionally. At the hearing, your landlord will present his opinion first. You should quietly listen to the hearing of your landlord and note those points that you might have to give the answers to. You should stand quietly and do not raise your hand. You will have to get the chance to speak. 

Present your argument

You have to explain in your argument that why you shouldn’t be evicted and give reasons. Provide the supporting documents of your evidence. If your witness is along with the testimony, tell the judge about this. The judge will ask you some questions, always give the correct answers, and do not tell a lie. 

Receive the judge decision

After hearing the proof, the judge will issue a decision; if you lose the case, you will have a fixed period to get out of your apartment. However, you can file the appeal to a higher court; before filing the appeal, you should talk to the lawyer, as the kit might be in your interest to get out of your apartment.

Frequently asked questions

How do you respond to the lease violation notice?

When the tenant gets the notice of lease from the landlord to quit or perform the lease condition, the tenant can correct the lease violation or perform the lease condition within three days.

What are the most common lease violations?

The most common lease violations are guests, unauthorized pets, unpaid rent, property damages, and commercial use of property or units for a long time.

What is the lease violation notice?

The lease violation notice defines the default and mistakes of the tenant in detail.

What does the lease violation infraction mean?

Any such condition in which the tenant cannot fulfil the needs and conditions laid down in the lease agreement is known as a lease violation.

What are my rights as a tenant without a lease?

If there is no lease notice, either written or verbal, a landlord can still evict you. 

Conclusion

So it concluded that you could get the advantage from the legal help while responding to the lease violating notice. You can hire a landlord-tenant attorney by contacting the state or local bar association and asking for a referral. Also, you can get help from the local aid organizations as they provide free legal services to people in their time of need.