According to landlord tenant rights, evicting tenants must take place using the legal eviction process, which generally ends in a court hearing. As a result, evicting tenants is never as simple as just telling the tenant to leave. In fact, while many cases can be as short as a couple weeks, others can extend to 6 months or longer if the initial claim is countered. Nevertheless, this three-prong process remains essential as the only method of legally evicting tenants from property being leased. If in an effort to remove tenants, landlords use ﾓself-helpﾔ methods such as changing locks or shutting off utilities, an eviction can actually end up damaging the landlord in court. Landlords should be sure to follow the correct procedure, beginning with first step of identifying a violation. The most common violations of evictions include nonpayment of rent and causing damage to the property. The next step in evicting tenants is to issue a notice, usually in the form of a written letter. The notice will specify a time period which, after elapsing, makes the eviction eligible to be filed in a local court.