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When you might be evicted
For renters in the United States who are behind on rent or about to be, who are holding a demand for payment, an eviction notice, court papers or a move-out date, who were locked out, or who have already lost a home, and for the people beside them. Who to call first, and what to say to your landlord. Where the help with rent is. What to do with court papers. What a landlord cannot do. Take only what you need today.
Right now
- Court papers? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says too many renters give up before they have a chance to go to court, and that responding to the lawsuit and going to court are important actions to take. Call the court clerk and ask how long you have to file an answer. The Bureau’s words: don’t delay, talk with a lawyer. You may qualify for free legal help: when you need a lawyer and can’t pay.
- Behind on rent? Call 211: the Bureau says it can help you find local help paying rent. To find a HUD-approved housing counselor: 1-800-569-4287.
- Locked out? The Bureau says your landlord cannot force you out by changing your locks without a court order. Call legal aid. If you are in danger, call 911.
- Nowhere to sleep tonight? USAGov says that in most areas you can dial 211 for referrals to emergency housing. Veterans: 1-877-424-3838, at any hour. On this site: when you need a place to stay.
- Thinking about ending your life? Call or text 988, at any hour. In danger right now? Call 911.
More help
- To put it in writing: Letters to your landlord, with a rent repayment plan letter.
- To keep a record of every call and paper: Paper trail and Dates to keep.
- Before you dial: Call script: know what you will say before you dial.
- A lawyer you can afford: When you need a lawyer and can’t pay.
- If you need somewhere to go: When you need a place to stay.
- When there isn’t enough: When the money runs out, When the power or heat might be shut off and When you need food.
- If the back rent has gone to a collector: When a debt collector calls.
- If you own your home: When you can’t pay the mortgage.
- If you need a change because of a disability: Housing accommodations.
- If home isn’t safe: When home isn’t safe.
- Veterans: For veterans.
- The heavy days: Worry time and Can’t sleep?
- All our free tools and Get help now.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When you’ve lost your job: filing for unemployment in your state, keeping health coverage, your last paycheck, and free help finding work.
- Is this a scam?: a red-flag checklist, what to do in the next five minutes, and the steps if you already paid or gave your information.
- When something is wrong at work: unpaid wages, unsafe work, harassment or retaliation: which federal office takes which problem, the phone numbers, and how long you have.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No lawyer or housing counselor has reviewed it, and it was not written by someone this has happened to: an AI has never rented a home or been afraid of losing one, and cannot know what that is. The facts come from pages read on October 6, 2026. From the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Help for renters, What to do if you’re facing eviction and Start a conversation about rent repayment (all last modified December 12, 2024), Get help paying rent and bills (September 25, 2026), Your tenant and debt collection rights (February 20, 2026), Help if you’ve lost housing, and two of its questions and answers: What is a tenant screening report? (last reviewed July 1, 2021, so it is the oldest thing here) and What should I do if my rental application is denied because of a tenant screening report? (May 28, 2024). From USAGov: Avoid eviction, How to file a complaint against a landlord, Get emergency housing, Get emergency rent assistance (all last updated April 15, 2026) and Find a lawyer for affordable legal aid. From the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Report Housing Discrimination, the Multifamily Housing Complaint Line page and its Public Housing Agency contact page. From the Department of Veterans Affairs: its homelessness page. From the Federal Trade Commission: Rental Listing Scams (June 2026). Also the front pages of 211.org’s housing expenses section, LawHelp.org’s help finder, the Legal Services Corporation’s I Need Legal Help, LegalFAQ.org, the National Disability Rights Network’s member list and the National Housing Law Project’s page on survivors. The page says whose words it is passing on, and what is marked “ours” is our own suggestion and not from any agency. What we did not read: any state’s or city’s eviction law, notice periods, court process, right-to-counsel program or rules on repairs and withholding rent; the Fair Housing Act, the Violence Against Women Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act or the Fair Credit Reporting Act themselves; the rules of any rental assistance program; and anything about public housing or voucher terminations, which have rules of their own. The servicemember rent figure ($4,214.28) is the Bureau’s and is dated 2022. The Bureau’s Spanish addresses for these pages lead to the English pages today. We did not call any of these numbers. Nothing on this page is stored on your device or sent anywhere, and the page loads no analytics (privacy). Your browser will still remember that you visited, as it does for any page; a private window does not. It was checked by programs, not yet used by people. Scarlet Beast is not a landlord, a counseling agency, a law office or a government agency, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].