Evicting a Tenant: Legal Steps for Landlords

How to act when a tenant fails to fulfill their obligations and refuses to vacate the rental property? Although unauthorized lock changes are prohibited by law, taking the correct legal steps ensures the protection of your property and a smooth resolution.

Extraordinary termination of the lease and legal grounds

If a tenant breaches the terms of the contract or repeatedly fails to pay rent, the first legal step is to terminate the lease. According to the Law of Obligations, a landlord has the right to extraordinarily terminate the contract for good cause if continuing the contract is no longer possible considering the interests of both parties. The main good cause is payment default, which amounts to at least three months' rent or if payment is delayed on three consecutive payment due dates.

The termination notice must be delivered to the tenant in a form that allows written reproduction, such as by email or with a digital signature. The notice must clearly indicate the rented dwelling, the lease end date, the factual and legal grounds for extraordinary termination, and an explanation of the procedure for disputing the termination. According to the law, the tenant has the right to dispute the notice within 30 days at the rental commission or in court. If the contract is extraordinarily terminated due to payment default, it ends on the date specified in the notice.

The risk of unauthorized action and initiating court proceedings

If the tenant refuses to vacate the rental property after the lease ends, you must remain calm. As a property owner, you must be aware that changing door locks, disconnecting utilities, or arbitrarily removing the tenant's belongings are prohibited by law and are treated as unauthorized action. The only legal way to regain the dwelling is through official proceedings.

To vacate the rental property, the landlord can file a claim with the district court or contact the local rental commission. The rental commission offers a quick and affordable alternative to court proceedings, and its enforceable decision is equivalent to a court judgment. If the tenant does not appeal the rental commission's decision to the district court within 20 days, the decision becomes an enforcement document, which provides the basis for official forced eviction.

Forced eviction through a court executor and cost recovery

After obtaining an enforceable court judgment or rental commission decision, the enforcement process is carried out by a court executor. The property owner submits an application to the court executor, after which the executor first gives the debtor a voluntary performance deadline, which may be up to three months. If the dwelling is not vacated during this period, the court executor carries out the forced eviction on site, involving the police if necessary.

When contacting a court executor, the enforcement proceedings are accompanied by court executor fees and other procedural costs. Although at the start of proceedings the obligation to pay certain costs may fall on the creditor, enforcement costs are recovered from the debtor under conditions set by law. In addition to the rent debt, the landlord may have the right to claim procedural costs and interest. If a separate interest rate is not agreed upon in the contract, the landlord can claim statutory interest. Additionally, under conditions set by law, the landlord may have a lien on the tenant's movable property in the rented space to secure their claims.

Problem prevention and finding a reliable tenant

To prevent major disputes, the best solution is to do thorough preliminary work before concluding a new contract. On the Kinnisvara24 portal, landlords and real estate agents can use a convenient background check tool that helps identify potential payment defaults before handing over the keys in cooperation with the Taust.ee database.

To avoid misunderstandings, it is worth specifying all additional costs in the contract and becoming familiar early with the rules for paying the repair fund. It is also worth considering modern solutions such as rental apartments without security deposits, where a guarantee service performs additional background checks and offers property protection.

Once the dwelling is vacated, read more about how to prepare a rental apartment for a new tenant to ensure the space is attractive and find a conscientious resident. If you are looking for a new tenant for your property, rental apartments in Estonia offer a wide circle of interested parties, and especially in demand are rental apartments directly from the owner in Tallinn. Posting an advertisement on the Kinnisvara24 portal is quick and affordable – adding a listing costs from 24.99 euros. Add your listing to Kinnisvara24 environment today and find a reliable tenant with ease!