The eviction process
If you have a secure tenancy, before you can be evicted from your home, your landlord has to go through a set of steps.
The process is:
- your landlord will send a 'notice of proceedings' to you and anyone aged 16 and over living in your home
- your landlord will start legal proceedings – you will be sent a summons telling you when your case will be heard at court
- your case will go to court and if the sheriff decides you should be evicted, they'll grant a 'decree' – permission to have you evicted
- sheriff officers will be sent to your home to remove you from it
Notice of proceedings
A notice of proceedings is a legal document that you'll get when the eviction process starts.
It should tell you:
- that your landlord intends to get an order from the sheriff court to make you leave the home
- the earliest date the landlord can contact the court to ask for a court hearing – this has to be at least four weeks away
- the reasons or grounds your landlord has for wanting to evict you
A notice of proceedings has to be sent to every person living in your house who is aged 16 and over. If your landlord does not do this they might have to start the eviction process all over again.
Court summons
If you have not managed to sort out the situation with your landlord after you get a notice of proceedings, you'll get a court summons at least four weeks later.
This tells you that your landlord has asked the court to give them permission to evict you. Before a court order can be granted your case must be heard at the sheriff court.
The court summons will tell you the date of your court hearing, which should normally be at least three weeks away.
When you get a court summons, you should get advice from Shelter Scotland's free housing advice helpline on 0808 800 4444. They might be able to prepare you for court.
You can also get advice on getting a court summons on the Shelter Scotland website.
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