Don’t Lock Out or Freeze Out a Tenant—It’s Illegal

As any experienced landlord will attest, there are occasional tenants who do things that are so outrageous that the landlord is tempted to bypass normal legal protections and take direct and immediate action to protect the property. However, taking "self-help" actions to remove a tenant from a rental is illegal.

Examples of Illegal Landlord Self-Help Measures

The only legal way to evict a tenant is to go through the process of terminating the tenancy with proper notice, and then filing an eviction lawsuit to get an order directing law enforcement to remove the tenant.

Most landlords are aware that they can't simply enter a rental and physically remove a tenant and the tenant's belongings from a rental. However, landlords sometimes try less direct—yet no more legal—measures to remove tenants.

For example, after a tenant's repeated destructive behavior, a landlord may consider changing the locks and putting the tenant's property out in the street. Or, a landlord who is responsible for paying the utility charges might be tempted to simply not pay the bill in the hopes that the resulting lack of water, gas, or electricity will hasten a tenant's departure. Another common method is to cut off the tenant's access to amenities that are included with the rental, such as a laundry room or pool.

None of these measures is legal, and all of them can land a landlord in hot water.

Why You Shouldn't Lock Out a Tenant

Landlords who take matters into their own hands often think that their behavior will be excused by the tenant's egregious conduct. However, the fact that the tenant didn't pay rent, left the property a mess, verbally abused the manager, or otherwise acted outrageously will not be a valid defense—and in fact, a landlord could end up on the wrong end of a lawsuit for trespass, assault, battery, slander or libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and wrongful eviction. Defending this lawsuit will cost far more than evicting the tenant using legal court procedures.

Landlords or property managers who are tempted to take the law into their own hands to force or scare a troublesome tenant out of the property should heed the following advice: Don't do it! Shortcuts such as threats, intimidation, utility shutoffs, or attempts to physically remove a tenant are illegal and dangerous. Your state's eviction (or "forcible detainer") laws are the only legal option.

Consequences of Illegal Evictions

Virtually every state that forbids "self-help" evictions also imposes penalties for landlords who break the law. When tenants sue after being locked out or frozen out, they can not only sue for their actual money losses (such as the cost of temporary housing, the value of food that spoiled when the refrigerator stopped running, or the cost of an electric heater when the gas was shut off), but they can also sue for penalties, such as several months' rent.

In some states, the tenant can sue and collect from the landlord and still remain in the rental; in others, tenants are entitled to monetary compensation only.

Even in states that have not legislated against self-help evictions, landlords who throw tenants out on their own run a risk of serious practical and legal entanglements. The potential for nastiness and violence is great—picture the arrival of a patrol car while tenant and landlord wrestle over the sofa on the lawn.

Landlords who lock out their tenants often find themselves sued over the "disappearance" of their tenant's valuable possessions. The tenant will claim they were lost or taken when the landlord locked them up or removed them. Using a neutral law enforcement officer to enforce a judge's eviction order will avoid these unpleasantries.

How to Legally Remove a Tenant

Landlords can't begin an eviction lawsuit without first terminating the tenancy. To legally terminate a tenancy, the landlord must give the tenant written notice, as specified in the state's termination statute. Landlords must have a reason to end a tenancy before the lease has expired. The most common reasons for ending a tenancy early include the tenant's failure to pay rent and the tenant's violation of a material clause of the lease, such as having a pet despite a no-pets policy.

Every state's eviction process is different. To get a more detailed overview of the general procedures, check out How Evictions Work: Rules for Landlords and Property Managers. For a comprehensive and up-to-date legal and practical guide for residential landlords, get Nolo's book, Every Landlord's Legal Guide.