Filing a Wrongful Eviction Lawsuit

You can sue your landlord for wrongful eviction if it forced you out without a court order, evicted you in retaliation or because of a protected trait such as race or disability, or ended your tenancy for a no-fault reason it never carried out, such as an owner move-in that didn't happen. Depending on the claim and the state, a court can award your actual losses, a multiple of those losses or of the rent, and your attorney fees. Smaller claims can go to small claims court, which hears cases up to $12,500 in California, and some deadlines are as short as one year, including the deadline for a fair housing complaint to HUD.

Which wrongful eviction claims can you bring?

A lawful eviction runs through a notice, a court case, a judgment, and removal by a sheriff or other court officer; the eviction timeline walks through each step. A claim usually arises when the landlord skipped those steps or used them for an illegal reason:

Bad-faith no-fault evictions

Several laws let you sue when a landlord gives a no-fault reason, such as moving in, that turns out to be false:

• California (statewide Tenant Protection Act): The law covers tenants of 12 months or more in most rentals; exempt units include housing built in the past 15 years and single-family homes owned by individuals who gave the required exemption notice. After an owner or relative move-in notice, the new occupant must move in within 90 days after you leave and live there as a primary residence for 12 consecutive months. If not, the owner must offer you the unit back at the same rent and lease terms and pay your reasonable moving expenses beyond any relocation payment. An owner who tries to recover possession in material violation of the law owes your actual damages, and the court may award attorney fees. If the owner acted willfully or with oppression, fraud, or malice, you can recover up to three times your actual damages plus punitive damages.
• San Francisco: An owner move-in must be for the owner's principal residence for at least 36 continuous months, and failing to move in within three months is listed as evidence of bad faith. A tenant can sue for at least three times actual damages, though emotional distress damages are tripled only if the landlord acted in knowing violation or reckless disregard of the law, and the winning side recovers attorney fees.
• New Jersey: After an owner move-in notice, the owner must live in the unit for at least six months. If it rents the unit to another tenant or converts the building to condominiums or a cooperative instead, it owes the former tenant three times the damages plus attorney fees and costs.
• Washington: A court presumes an owner move-in was not in good faith if the owner or immediate family did not live in the unit as a principal residence for at least 60 consecutive days during the 90 days after you moved out. A tenant who proves a wrongful eviction gets the greater of their economic and noneconomic damages, such as moving costs and emotional distress, or three times the monthly rent, plus attorney fees and court costs.

For example, a Washington tenant paying $1,800 a month whose damages total $4,000 would recover the greater of $4,000 or 3 x $1,800 = $5,400. The award is $5,400, plus attorney fees and court costs.

Where to file

• Small claims court. In California, small claims court hears claims up to $12,500 for individuals, the filing fee is $30 to $100, and you can get a lawyer's advice beforehand but cannot have one with you in court. Limits and rules differ by state, so check your court's website first.
• Regular civil court. Use it when your claim is larger than the small claims limit or you want a lawyer to represent you. Several of the laws above let a winning tenant recover attorney fees from the landlord, so ask tenant lawyers whether they will take your case on that basis.
• HUD, a fair housing agency, or court. For a discrimination claim, you can file a complaint with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which either investigates it or refers it to another agency to investigate. You can also sue in federal or state court, with or without a HUD complaint. Fair housing protections covers both routes.
• The eviction case itself. If your landlord has filed an eviction case against you, raise retaliation or discrimination as a defense in that case, by the response deadline or at the hearing date shown on your court papers.
• An emergency order first. If you are still locked out, ask the court for an order that restores your access before you sue for money.

To start a small claims case, complete and file the court's claim form, then arrange service, the required delivery of the filed papers to your landlord. Follow your court's rules for who may serve the papers and how to file proof of service.

Evidence to collect

• Your lease, rent receipts, and every notice the landlord gave you.
• Texts, emails, and voicemails with the landlord, with dates.
• Photos and video of changed locks, shut-off meters, removed doors, or belongings moved outside, and the police report number.
• Receipts for moving, hotels, storage, meals, and replacement belongings, plus the lease and rent for your new home.
• For a bad-faith no-fault eviction: rental listings for your old unit, the names of anyone who moved in, and building permits or sale records, with the dates you found them.
• For retaliation or discrimination: dated copies of your repair requests and complaints, inspection reports, and the names of witnesses and of other tenants who were treated differently.

Filing deadlines

Do not assume you have a year after moving out; a deadline can start when an unlawful termination notice is served.

• Fair housing claims. HUD requires you to file within one year of the last discriminatory act. A lawsuit must be filed within two years after the act, and the time a HUD complaint is pending does not count toward the two years.
• California claims. You generally have one year to sue on a statute that imposes a penalty unless that law sets a different deadline (Code of Civil Procedure section 340), and three years for other liabilities created by statute and for taking, holding, or damaging your belongings (section 338). The one-year limit can cover the entire statutory damages claim when the law requires triple damages, as the court held in Menefee v. Ostawari.
• San Francisco owner or relative move-in claims. When the landlord has recovered possession under the owner or relative move-in provision, Rent Ordinance section 37.9(f) gives you five years from the earlier of the landlord's first occupancy statement filing with the Rent Board or three months after the landlord recovers possession.
• Other states. Each state sets its own limits by type of claim, so ask a lawyer which one applies before the earliest date passes.

A legal aid office or tenant lawyer can tell you which deadline applies and whether to add claims; see how to find free legal help for an eviction.