When you are ready to initiate eviction proceedings, go to the courthouse, fill out forms stating why you want to appear before the court, and pay the fee. At the hearing you will present your case and your documented evidence.

Make three copies of the original notices and eviction papers for the court. Also get together other relevant records such as the lease, copies of receipts for rent, warning letters, and your logbook. If the eviction is due to nonpayment of rent, have documentation that shows you gave your tenant a Pay Rent or Quit notice and therefore he had time to bring rent up to date. It's essential that you go into the court organized and can quickly demonstrate why the tenant should be evicted.

First Court Appearance

On the date your hearing is scheduled, you must appear in court. Take all of your tenant records — the rental agreement, lease, pet agreement, inventory checklist, correspondence, invoices for repairs and damage, your collection records, and any other notices, photos, or videos. Also bring your logbook of events if you keep one.

An eviction usually entails two hearings in court. At the first, you and your tenant will each be given an opportunity to tell your story. The evidence you present will strengthen your case. If the eviction is based on nonpayment of rent, the judge is likely to give the tenant one last chance to pay all money owed before the second court date.

Eviction proceedings can be delayed or sped up, however. If your tenant doesn't show up, the judge may order the eviction by default. Resolution is also quicker if your tenant is selling or manufacturing drugs. But there are times when the eviction is delayed; tenants can file a motion to delay proceedings and in some instances judges will issue delays.

If your tenant can convince the judge that being evicted will be a hardship, the eviction could be postponed until the tenant's circumstances improve or to give the tenant time to find a new home. The judge can also order a two-week stay; it gives the tenant additional time to get the money together and pay the back rent.

Hardships might be determined if the tenant has children, new housing is not available, or the tenant might lose a job because of moving. If the tenant has children who would be affected by the eviction, the judge might order a stay for more than two weeks. When a tenant offers to pay the back rent, the landlord's court costs for filing the eviction, and future rent, that, too, might halt an eviction.

Second Court Appearance

The judge is likely to issue the eviction at the second court appearance. If proceedings were started because of nonpayment of rent and you haven't received the money by the time of the second court appearance, the tenant is likely to receive a Money Judgment, which orders him to pay you a certain amount of money.

The court might allow the tenant to stay in the apartment for another short period if there is a hardship. But in most cases after the second court appearance, your Sheriff's Department will get the eviction order and set up a date on which it will take place. It's generally within two to three weeks.

Tenants sometimes immediately move after the court order. If they don't, the sheriff will hire a moving company — you pay the costs — to remove the tenant's possessions on the day assigned for the eviction.