This page explains what happens if we apply to the sheriff court for an order to evict you. It includes information about the summons from the court, what happens in court and decisions the court can make, and what will happen on the day we evict you.
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Background
As a landlord, we have to follow specific legal procedures to evict tenants. We can't just throw you out into the street. The eviction process breaks down into the following steps.
When do you evict tenants?
We only ever evict you as a last resort and when we have taken all other action that we can. We must be able to prove to the court that it is reasonable for us to evict you (for example, if you are not paying your rent and will not work with us to pay your rent, or, if you have behaved antisocially). The reason for evicting you will be included in the notice of proceedings and in the summons.
The court process
In court, we have to prove to the sheriff that we have acted reasonably in our decision to take you to court and ask to evict you. The court follows the following processes.
We will ask the court to send you a summons
If we are taking legal action against you to evict you, the first formal notice you will receive is a document called a ‘copy summons’. This is a legal document which says you must appear in court before a judge or magistrate.
The summons is usually sent by recorded delivery post, but may also be delivered by a sheriff officer. A sheriff officer is authorised by the court to deliver the copy to you personally, or leave it with someone in your household or place of business.
What should I do if I receive a summons?
Do not ignore it! If you don't do anything, you may be evicted. If you are not sure of what to do, you can ask for advice from your local Citizens Advice, or a solicitor. You should contact us immediately to see if there is anything you can do to avoid the case going to court. For example, if you owe us money, you may be able to pay this back in full or we may be able to come to an agreement with you about paying the debt off in instalments.
You must let the court know in writing why you think you should not be evicted, or why you want the eviction stopped. This is called ‘replying to the summons’.
Replying to the summons
If possible, you should get advice from Citizens Advice or a solicitor if you want to reply to a summons. If you do not respond to the summons, or do not reply properly, it's likely that the court will grant an order for your eviction. This may also happen if you don't go to court on the calling date.
You will find instructions about how to reply to the summons on pages 3 and 4 of the summons itself. You will also find a guide to replying to the summons on the sheriff court website.
What is on the summons?
The summons comes on a special form, which includes the following information.
You can find more information on the Scottish Courts website
The claim
The claim is the section where we ask for a possession order and say why we want it (for example, because you owe us rent or you have behaved antisocially).
Return date
The return date is the date that you should reply to the court by if you do not want to be evicted. If you do not agree with the reasons we are taking you to court or you do not want to be evicted, you should reply to the court by the return date.
If the return date has passed and you have not replied, you will still be able to go to court on the calling date to explain to the sheriff why you shouldn't be evicted.
Calling date
This is the date and time when your case will be heard in court. It's very important that you go to court on this date. If you do not go to court, or someone else does not go on your behalf, the sheriff is more likely to grant an order to evict you.
What decisions can the sheriff make?
The sheriff can do any of the following.
The sheriff may decide not to make a decision at the hearing and arrange another hearing. This is usually to allow time for you to:
The sheriff will tell you the date of the next hearing at the end of this hearing.
If the sheriff dismisses the case it means that they have decided there is no case to hear. This could be because:
If the sheriff suspends your case, they can call you back to court at a later date. This is called ‘sisting’ the case. For example, they may suspend your case to give you time to show:
If you fail to keep to the arrangement you have made, we can bring your case back to court.
If the sheriff grants a decree, it means that they have made a decision to grant the order we asked for. This means that they have given us permission to end your legal right to live in our property and evict you and order you to pay the costs of taking you to court.
If you do not understand, you can ask the sheriff to explain this to you.
In all of the above, if we take legal action, you may have to pay our court costs. This may add over £100 to the amount that you owe us.
What will happen if the court grants a decree?
If the court has granted us a decree, we can now legally evict you. However, you will have 14 days to appeal against the court’s decision after the decree has been granted. If you want to appeal against the decision you should get independent legal advice.
Your tenancy will end on the date on the decree. You must contact your local area housing office to discuss what you need to do next.
You no longer have a legal right to live in the property. You can stay in the property up until the date of the eviction. You must still pay us a sum of money called a ‘rent substitute’ for the time that you still live in the property. You will no longer have the rights that you previously had under your Scottish secure tenancy. For example, you will no longer have the right to buy, the right of succession or the right to exchange your home. For more information about these, please contact your area housing office.
Will you evict me?
If there has been no change in your circumstances since the court hearing, we will evict you. There may be some situations where we will not evict you. For example, if you owed us rent arrears and you repay all of the money that you owed us in full before the date of eviction. In these circumstances, your tenancy will end and we may offer you a new tenancy. There may be circumstances when we will put off the date of your eviction. It this happens, we will tell you.
If there is no way of preventing your eviction, you should try to find other accommodation. If you cannot find other accommodation you should fill in a homeless application form. In some circumstances, you may be entitled to temporary accommodation. For more information, on your housing options please contact our Housing Needs Section (see their contact details below). We will treat your enquiry in confidence and give you advice and help.
How will I know if you are going to evict me?
In line with our policy, we will tell you the date we are going to evict you giving you at least four weeks’ notice. The sheriff officer will write to you and tell you the date and time of the eviction.
We will also try and visit you before the date of the eviction to discuss what will happen. This includes what you must do to prepare for the eviction.
I owe you rent. Is it too late to stop the eviction?
No. To avoid being evicted, you will have to pay us what you owe plus any court costs we have, in full, before the eviction date. However, if the court grants us a decree to evict you your tenancy, and any rights you have related to your tenancy (for example, the right to buy, the right to succeed and so on) will end. But, we may agree to give you a new tenancy in the same house.
What should I do before the date of the eviction?
Before you leave the property, you should do the following:
If you do not do these, we will charge you for any costs that we have to meet.
What happens on the day of the eviction?
On the day of the eviction, relevant members of the Housing Service will meet the sheriff officer at your property. If you have not already packed your belongings, they will give you time to do this. If you have not already left the property, the sheriff officers will evict you. They are entitled to use necessary, reasonable force to enter your home and remove:
Will you store my belongings?
In most circumstances, we do not have a legal responsibility to store your belongings. We will only store your belongings if we assess you as being homeless or threatened with homelessness and entitled to temporary accommodation. In all other cases, we will get rid of anything that you leave in the property.
Can I appeal against an eviction decision?
We have a review process for tenants who are not satisfied with the way that we have dealt with the eviction process.
In the first instance, you should ask for an explanation from your Area Housing Manager. If you are not satisfied, you should write to the Senior Area Housing Manager (at the following address) and they will review your case.
Information and advice agencies
More information
If you want more information please contact your local area housing office.