Eviction: What are Your Rights?

PREPARE FOR CREDIT DAMAGE
“Once you have an eviction it affects your rental history,” says attorney Janet Portman, author of Every Tenant’s Legal Guide and managing editor of Nolo.com, a free, online legal resource. Future landlords will likely ask if you’ve ever been evicted. It may or may not be picked up by a credit reporting agency, but if it is, there’s no washout period, unlike a bankruptcy which gets erased from one’s credit report after about seven years, says Portman.

JUST CAUSE RIGHTS.
In states with rent-controlled districts like California, New York and Maryland, “just cause eviction protection” prevents landlords from terminating the lease without proving a legally recognized reason.  “You can stay there forever as long as you pay the rent and don’t violate other clauses in the lease,” says Portman, “unless the landlord is going to demolish the place or move in himself.”