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Many worried that they would be evicted once the coronavirus took its financial toll. Luckily, the government stepped in with eviction moratoriums that kept families from being thrown out of their homes and onto the streets.

While some moratoriums are still in place, they won’t last forever. That’s why we’ll focus on standard eviction protections you should know. If any come up during your time as a tenant, know that your landlord cannot kick you out.

Discrimination

The Federal Fair Housing Act protects seven classes, including disability, religion, color, race, sex, familial status, national origin. This means that a landlord cannot evict you based on discrimination linked to one of those classes.

Are those the only protected classes? No, as your state may have some of its own that you should look into. And for an example of illegal eviction based on discrimination, let’s say you and your fiancé moved into an apartment two years ago. You have a baby on the way, and your landlord is treating you differently. In fact, the landlord wants to evict you all of a sudden.

What’s the reason for their change of heart? The fact that with a baby on the way, they fear your unit will produce noise via screaming and crying. So to avoid issues with other tenants, they want you out.

You cannot be evicted here, however, as it’s discriminatory based on familial status.

Retaliation

Arguments between landlords and tenants are common. But unless those arguments are due to you not paying the rent or breaching the contract, your landlord cannot evict you out of retaliation.

As an example, imagine that your apartment has mold. It’s a safety issue that your landlord refuses to fix, so you file a formal complaint with the health department. Your landlord didn’t like this move, so they decide to evict you, only they cannot. Why? Because the eviction is retaliatory and in response to your complaint.

A red flag is when a landlord tries to evict someone within 3-6 months after legal action or a complaint. So if you face eviction in such a time frame, know that you are safe.

Withholding Rent

Can a landlord evict you for nonpayment of rent? Yes. Can they evict you if you make a partial rent payment due to a health or safety issue? No.

For instance, you may have an agreement with your landlord where they pay for repairs. Your toilet stopped working, but your landlord refused to pay a plumber or fix the issue, forcing you to pay out of pocket.

Once the rent was due, you offered a partial payment where the payment to the plumber was subtracted. This made your landlord file an eviction, which is illegal since they failed to fix the health or safety issue.

Protected Tenant Status

A protected tenant cannot be evicted in some counties or states. For example, this could be a person over 62 or someone who’s lived in the unit for over 10 years. In some cases, protected tenants are even eviction-proof when it comes to nonpayment of rent.