I have a 72 hour eviction notice for 7/19/12.. however my court date is 8/8/12 for the month of July rent.. please correct me if I'm wrong... don't I suppose to go to court before the eviction process can begin? I'm confused.. over the last yr I was late 9times but I always pay all fee's... my lease renewed in march this yr. So all lst yrs late occurrences no longer apply right?

Please help me

Article 5 of the Virginia tenats act says "It is illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant without going through court proceedings"

Ok because this is third time they have tried to evict me without ever going to court.. its almost like they go but never send me papers to go.. all I get is a eviction notice for 72 hours.. Is there something I can do about this

It is possible your landlord is ignorant of the law. He should be giving you a 5 day notice to quit or notice to vacate. If you don't vacate then he must follow the law and go through the courts. Virginia Eviction (http://www.evictionresources.com/eviction_process_articles/virginia_eviction_process.html) What was the title of the notice you got, did it appear to be a ready made form or something the LL threw together?

I think you are misreading the notice you are being given. This often trips up both landlords and tenants.

The FIRST step in the eviction process is a 5 day (not 72 hour) Pay or Quit notice. This notice may say eviction on it, but its not an eviction order. It's a vacate order. If you pay in full before the 5 days it goes no further. However, if you are chronically late, the landlord may not have to accept payment.

When the 5 days are up the LL files for an unlawful detainer which is the eviction order. This requires a court hearing. At which time you may, again, be given the opportunity to pay in full. Or you may not.

Your payment record from the previous lease period can be used. Signing a new lease does not change your payment history.

It is possible your landlord is ignorant of the law. He should be giving you a 5 day notice to quit ...


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The FIRST step in the eviction process is a 5 day (not 72 hour) Pay or Quit notice. ...

OP's first post contains a contradiction:


I have a 72 hour eviction notice for 7/19/12 .....

It's not clear when OP received the notice, but she/he posted this yesterday, 7/13. 19 minus 13 = 6. So it appears that OP received a 5-day notice, although it may have been mis-labeled as a 72-hour notice.