Negotiating With Your Landlord to Avoid Eviction

You can negotiate with your landlord after you get an eviction notice and after an eviction case is filed, and some states let you stop a nonpayment case late by paying everything you owe. Settlements generally take one of two forms: a payment plan that lets you stay if you pay the back rent on set dates, or a move-out date in exchange for concessions such as waived rent, a dismissed case, and a neutral reference. Your landlord does not have to agree, so bring a specific offer and proof of any rental assistance you applied for, and once a case is open, put the deal in a written agreement that a judge approves.

When can you negotiate?

• After a notice, before a court case. Answer in writing before the notice deadline. A pay-or-quit notice gives you a short window to pay in full; pay-or-quit notices explained covers the deadlines, and what to do if you can't pay rent covers a first offer made before rent is due.
• In a required diversion program. Philadelphia requires landlords of privately owned rental homes to apply to the city's Eviction Diversion Program and take part in good faith for 30 days before filing in court. If your application is assigned to mediation, you get a HUD-certified housing counselor, sessions are held by phone, and any agreement is written up and emailed to both sides.
• After a case is filed, before trial. Negotiations or a pending assistance application do not themselves pause response deadlines or hearings. Keep filing required responses on time and attending hearings unless the applicable deadline or hearing is formally changed; otherwise, the court can enter a default judgment against you. California's court rules direct courts to encourage, where feasible, at least one settlement conference, mediation, or similar chance to resolve the case before trial, and parties cannot be required to pay for mediation. New Jersey ended mandatory pretrial case management conferences on September 1, 2023. File your Tenant Case Information Statement promptly after receiving the complaint; the court accepts it through the trial date.
• Late in the case, if you can pay everything. In a New York nonpayment case, the court must cancel the warrant of eviction if you pay the landlord or deposit with the court the full rent due before the warrant is carried out, unless the landlord proves you withheld rent in bad faith. New Jersey's courts say that if you pay all rent owed plus court costs within three business days of the eviction, the landlord must ask the court to dismiss the case with prejudice.

The length of each stage is covered in the eviction timeline.

What to offer

A payment plan so you can stay

Offer an amount you can pay every month on top of your regular rent, with a final payoff date. Say your rent is $1,600, you owe two months ($3,200), and an assistance program has approved $2,000. You could offer the $2,000 when it arrives and the remaining $1,200 over four months: $1,200 / 4 = $300, so you would pay $1,600 + $300 = $1,900 a month until the balance is gone. Ask the landlord to waive late fees and to charge no interest or added fees on the plan; California's settlement form has a box for each.

A landlord can refuse a plan and take the case to trial. New Jersey's court guide warns that if the landlord will not agree to a payment plan and the court finds you owe the rent, you must pay the full amount by the close of business on the trial day or the court can enter a judgment for possession, and that a lost job or a medical bill is not a legal reason for unpaid rent.

A move-out date

If you can't catch up, offer to leave by a date you can meet. In return, ask the landlord to waive the back rent and any other money claim, dismiss the case, and handle your security deposit under state law. Some landlords will also pay you to leave; cash for keys agreements explains how to value that kind of offer.

Terms to ask for in a written agreement

California's optional settlement form for eviction cases, UD-155, lists terms you can ask for, and the same terms can go into an agreement in any state:

• Dismissal. The landlord dismisses the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot refile the same claim, within a set number of business days after you finish the plan.
• An order, not a judgment. Ask for a stipulation and order, which puts the agreement in the court record without a judgment against you. A stipulated judgment ends the case at once with the same effect as losing at trial: the landlord can ask the sheriff to lock you out, and the judgment may become public.
• Limited public access to the court file. California lets the parties agree to have the court bar public access to the case. Other states have their own rules; see sealing or expunging eviction records.
• No money judgment. Ask the landlord to waive the back rent, late fees, and damages, and check that the agreement's judgment terms do not authorize a money judgment. Stating the amount you owe does not prevent one. A clause that settles possession only leaves both sides free to file a new case over money later, so leave it out if you want the money settled too.
• Reference and credit reporting. The landlord agrees to give a neutral or better rental reference and not to report the case to credit reporting agencies.
• A grace period and a chance to cure. You get a set number of days to make up a late payment after written notice before the landlord can go back to court.
• Fees and repairs. Both sides waive attorney fees and court costs, and the agreement lists any repairs the landlord will make and the completion date.

How rental assistance and diversion programs fit

Apply for rental assistance before you make an offer, then tell the landlord which program you applied to and when it expects to decide. Ask the landlord to agree in writing to hold off on filing, or to ask the court to postpone the case, while the application is pending. Rent assistance programs covers who qualifies and what documents to bring.

Some programs need the landlord's cooperation, and that cooperation can be part of the deal:

• New Jersey: a landlord must cooperate with any charitable organization or rental assistance program that commits to pay your rent.
• Philadelphia: the city's Targeted Financial Assistance pays the landlord up to $3,500 of back rent plus two months of future rent. To qualify, your household income must be below 80% of the area median, you must owe less than $3,500, the landlord must opt in, and there can be no landlord-tenant court filing within a year of the application. A landlord that accepts the money agrees not to file an eviction case for two months after the last month the payment covers, and you must pay rent during that time. The money is not a loan, but when the case goes through mediation, the two sides must reach an agreement before the program pays.

Get the agreement signed, and approved if a case is open

1. Before a case is filed, write down the amounts, the due dates, how and to whom you will pay, and the landlord's promise not to file while you keep to the plan. Both of you sign and date it, and each keeps a copy.
2. After a case is filed, submit the agreement to the court. In New Jersey, you must still come to court with the signed original, even if you settled before the trial date, so the judge can review and approve it. In California, the parties can use form UD-155, which becomes a binding court order once the judge signs it, so ask a legal aid office or tenant lawyer to review it first.
3. Know what a missed payment triggers. Under California's form, a landlord can ask the court to enforce a broken agreement on short notice, possibly the same day. If the agreement includes a conditional judgment, meaning both sides agree a judgment will be entered only if you miss a term, the court may enter it without another hearing. Get the cure period and grace period in writing before you sign.
4. Pay in a way that leaves a record, such as a money order with a receipt or an electronic transfer, and keep proof of every payment.
5. If the landlord breaks the agreement, tell the court. In New Jersey, you file a signed certification explaining the violation and send a copy to the landlord by regular and certified mail.