How much does an eviction cost? A landlord’s guide to fees, legal costs, and who pays

 

Landlords across the U.S. file millions of eviction cases every year, with Princeton’s Eviction Lab estimating an average of 3.6 million filings annually between 2000 and 2018. Yet when owners ask “how much does an eviction cost?”, the court filing fee is usually the first number that comes to mind, and it is the smallest part of the bill. The larger costs are lost rent, attorney time, and the turnover work that follows.

This guide breaks down how much an eviction costs landlords, owners, and property managers, which fees can be recovered from the tenant, and how to keep eviction costs low across a portfolio.

The short answer: On an uncontested eviction, most landlords pay roughly $600 to $2,500 in direct legal and court costs, covering filing fees, service of process, and an attorney’s flat fee. Add lost rent and unit turnover, and the all-in cost for a unit renting at the national median typically runs from about $6,000 to $11,000. Contested cases, high-rent markets, and slow court calendars push it higher.

How much does an eviction cost? – The full breakdown

The answer to “how much does it cost to evict someone?” has two layers: the out-of-pocket legal costs that come via invoice, and the revenue losses that show up on the rent roll. Most landlords underestimate the lost rent, which is usually much larger.

Here is how those figures combine for a unit renting at the 2024 national median gross rent of $1,487, according to the U.S. Census Bureau:

• Low end (fast, uncontested case): about $625 in direct costs, plus one month of lost rent ($1,487) and turnover (about $3,872), for roughly $6,000 in total
• High end (slower case with a writ): about $2,340 in direct costs, plus three months of lost rent ($4,461) and turnover, for roughly $10,700 in total
• Contested case: hourly attorney billing, additional hearings, and a longer vacancy can push the total well past $11,000

The turnover figure comes from a 2023 survey of 630 property managers reported by Multifamily Dive, which put average apartment turnover costs at $3,872 per resident. The survey covered communities with 250 or more units, so smaller operators may see different numbers, but the order of magnitude holds.

Who pays legal fees for eviction?

The landlord pays the legal fees for an eviction up front, including the filing fee, service costs, and the attorney’s retainer. Whether those costs can be shifted to the tenant later depends on two things: what the lease says and what state law allows.

In many states, court costs follow the winning party, while attorney fees are recoverable only when the lease or a statute provides for them. A few examples show how much the rules vary:

• Florida: Under Florida Statute 83.48, the party who wins a rental agreement dispute may recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the losing party, and a lease cannot waive that right.
• Texas: Texas Property Code Section 24.006 lets a landlord recover attorney fees only if the lease allows it or the landlord sent a written demand to vacate by registered or certified mail at least 10 days before filing. The prevailing party recovers all court costs.
• California: California Civil Code Section 1717 makes lease attorney fee clauses reciprocal. If the lease lets the landlord recover fees, a tenant who wins can recover them too.

That last point matters for any operator weighing a weak case. A fee-shifting clause cuts both ways, so filing on thin documentation can leave the landlord paying the tenant’s legal bill as well as its own.

Winning a judgment is not the same as getting paid

A court order that awards back rent, court costs, and attorney fees is only as valuable as the landlord’s ability to collect it. Tenants who fell behind on rent may have limited assets once they leave, which can make judgments slow or difficult to collect through garnishment or other remedies. Prudent operators treat recoverable fees as an upside, not as part of the budget.

How much does it cost to file an eviction?

Filing an eviction, the step that formally starts the eviction process, usually costs between $45 and $450, depending on the state, the county, and how much money the landlord is claiming. These court fees for eviction are set by statute or court rule and are published by local clerks, so they are among the easiest eviction costs to pin down in advance.

Here is what it costs to file eviction papers in several major markets:

• California: The California Courts self-help center lists filing fees of $240 for claims up to $10,000, $385 for claims between $10,000 and $35,000, and $435 for claims over $35,000. A few counties charge slightly more.
• Florida: In Pasco County, the clerk’s fee schedule shows $185 to file for possession only and $300 when damages up to $15,000 are also claimed, plus $10 to $17 per summons.
• Texas: In Bexar County justice courts, an eviction petition costs $54 to file plus a $117 service fee per party served. A writ of possession adds a $282 service charge and a $5 filing fee.
• New York City: Landlords pay $45 for an index number to start a holdover or nonpayment case in Housing Court.

Remember that court costs for eviction increase as a case moves forward. Service fees are charged per defendant, so a household with two adult leaseholders can double that line item, and post-judgment steps like writs, appeals, and motions each carry their own fees.

How much is an eviction notice?

An eviction notice itself usually costs nothing beyond the time to prepare it. Many states publish required notice language, and landlords or their managers can draft the notice in-house. The cost comes from delivering it in a way that will hold up in court.

What it costs to serve an eviction notice depends on the method your state requires or recommends:

• Personal or posted delivery: often free when handled by on-site staff, provided the delivery is documented
• Certified mail: the USPS certified mail fee is $5.55, plus $4.65 for a hard copy return receipt and standard postage
• Process server or sheriff: comparable to court service fees, such as the $117 per defendant charged in Bexar County

The notice is where many evictions go wrong. A defective notice, such as the wrong cure period, missing statutory language, or improper delivery, can force a landlord to start over. Restarting the process can add weeks of lost rent to a case that should have been simple. In Texas, skipping the certified-mail demand can forfeit the right to recover attorney fees entirely.

How much does an eviction lawyer cost?

Eviction lawyers typically charge $500 to $1,500 as a flat fee for an uncontested residential case. According to a 2026 LeanLaw analysis of eviction pricing, those packages generally exclude court costs, sheriff fees, tenant counterclaims, jury trials, appeals, and post-judgment collections.

Once a tenant contests the case, most attorneys switch to hourly billing. Clio’s Legal Trends research puts the average U.S. lawyer rate at $349 per hour in 2025, so a contested case with discovery, motions, and a trial can quickly multiply the legal fees for eviction. Here is what usually moves an eviction lawsuit from flat fee to hourly:

• Tenant files an answer or counterclaim: habitability, retaliation, or discrimination defenses
• Procedural challenges: disputes over notice content, service, or rent calculations
• Jury demands or appeals: both add hearings and extend the timeline
• Regulated units: rent-stabilized, subsidized, or tax-credit housing with added notice requirements

NYC eviction lawyer cost

New York City is a useful example of how local policy shapes legal costs. Under the city’s Right to Counsel law, tenants facing eviction in Housing Court can get free legal representation or advice, and the program provides full representation to households below 200% of the federal poverty level. The $45 filing fee is low, but represented tenants are more likely to contest, so NYC landlords should plan for hourly billing rather than a flat fee.

Evicting a commercial tenant

How much does it cost to evict a commercial tenant? Commercial tenant eviction cases usually cost more than a residential case, because the stakes are higher and both sides often retain attorneys. Commercial leases often include their own fee-shifting and default provisions, and claims for unpaid rent can push filing fees to the top tier. In California, for example, any claim over $35,000 carries the $435 filing fee. Most commercial owners should expect hourly billing from the start rather than a flat-fee package.

The hidden costs of eviction that never appear on a court invoice

The largest eviction costs are usually indirect. Lost rent, turnover, and staff time rarely show up on a legal bill, but they routinely make up most of the total.

• Lost rent: Every month the unit is occupied without payment, or sits vacant afterward, costs a full month of income. At the national median rent, that is about $1,487 per month.
• Turnover and make-ready: Repairs, painting, deep cleaning, and lock changes are common after a contentious move-out, and they feed into the $3,872 per-resident turnover average.
• Staff time: Managers spend hours on documentation, court appearances, and coordinating with counsel, time that would otherwise go to leasing and retention.
• Eviction turnover fees: Some property management agreements charge owners an eviction or eviction turnover fee to cover the manager’s time preparing case materials and coordinating the move-out. Owners should confirm whether this fee applies and how it is calculated before signing a management agreement.

Are eviction costs tax deductible?

Many eviction costs are deductible for rental property owners. IRS Publication 527 allows landlords to deduct legal and other professional fees connected to their rental activity. The rules on unpaid rent are stricter: cash-basis taxpayers cannot deduct uncollected rent because it was never reported as income, while accrual-basis taxpayers may be able to deduct it as a business bad debt. Owners should confirm their treatment with a tax advisor.

When eviction is worth the cost and when it isn’t

Eviction makes financial sense when the cost of keeping a nonpaying or non-compliant resident clearly exceeds the cost of removing them. Running that comparison before filing helps operators choose the cheapest path to a resolution.

Filing is usually the right call when:

• Arrears are growing with no realistic plan: The resident has stopped communicating or repeatedly broken payment agreements.
• Safety or property is at risk: Lease violations involve damage, illegal activity, or threats to other residents.
• Documentation is strong: Notices, ledgers, and communications are complete and compliant with state law.

Alternatives often cost less when:

• The shortfall is temporary: A payment plan or connection to emergency rental assistance can recover rent faster than a court judgment.
• The resident is willing to leave: A negotiated move-out, sometimes called “cash for keys,” can return the unit in weeks rather than months.
• The case is weak: Gaps in notices or records invite a contested case, and in reciprocal fee states, the risk of paying the tenant’s attorney fees.

How to lower eviction costs across a portfolio

For owners and operators with hundreds or thousands of units, eviction costs are a portfolio-level performance issue, not a one-off legal expense. The most effective strategies reduce how often evictions happen and shorten the ones that do.

1. Screen more carefully at the front door. Application fraud is a real source of exposure. In MRI Software’s 2026 multifamily real estate trends survey, 80% of respondents said they had encountered credit history fraud and fake, AI-generated documents in the past 18 months. Configurable resident screening, ID verification, and income verification help stop high-risk applications before a lease is signed.
2. Make paying rent easy and visible. Flexible online rent payments and rent payment reporting give residents more ways and more reasons to pay on time.
3. Standardize notices by jurisdiction. Templates and workflows built for each state’s cure periods and delivery rules reduce the defective notices that restart cases. Timely, documented resident communications also strengthen the record if a case goes to court.
4. Track compliance on regulated properties. Affordable and HUD-assisted housing layers federal rules on top of state law, and those rules keep changing. HUD moved in 2026 to eliminate its 30-day nonpayment notice requirement for some programs while keeping other notice obligations. Affordable housing compliance software helps teams apply the current rules consistently.
5. Measure the true cost per eviction. Track filing fees, legal expenses, lost rent, and turnover by property so leadership can see which communities, screening criteria, or vendors drive the most expense. The right software for real estate investors can help you analyze costs by property, property type, or portfolio-wide.

Operators should also avoid using eviction filings as a routine collection tool. Eviction Lab research found that nearly one-third of households that received a filing were subject to serial filings, a practice that draws regulatory and reputational scrutiny and damages resident relationships.

How much does an eviction cost a tenant?

An eviction can cost a tenant far more than the rent they owe. If the landlord wins, the court judgment may include unpaid rent, court costs, and, in states like Florida or under a qualifying lease, the landlord’s attorney fees. Eviction Lab’s research on serial filings found that each filing cost tenants an average of $180 in late fees and court costs, about 20% of a month’s rent.

The longer-term cost is the record itself. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that an eviction record, regardless of its accuracy or outcome, has a high likelihood of leading to a rental denial. That can mean higher deposits, fewer housing options, and moving costs on short notice.

Do tenants have to pay court costs? Often, if they lose the case. Tenants facing an eviction have a few options to explore:

• Read the lease and state law: Court costs generally follow the losing party, and attorney fees usually require a lease clause or statute.
• Ask about fee waivers: Courts such as California’s offer fee waivers for people who receive public benefits or have low incomes.
• Seek free legal help: Some cities, including New York City, guarantee counsel for eligible tenants, and HUD lists eviction and rental assistance resources nationwide.

Frequently asked questions about eviction costs

Does it cost money to evict someone?

Yes. Even a fast, uncontested eviction requires a court filing fee, typically $45 to $450 depending on the state, plus service of process. Most landlords also pay an attorney and lose at least one month of rent, so the realistic minimum is several thousand dollars once lost income is counted.

What is the average cost to evict a tenant?

For a unit at the national median rent, the average cost to evict a tenant typically falls between about $6,000 and $11,000 when lost rent and turnover are included. Direct legal and court costs usually run $600 to $2,500 for an uncontested case.

Do you have to pay for an eviction notice?

You do not usually have to pay for an eviction notice. Landlords can generally draft the notice themselves using state-required language. The costs come from delivery, such as certified mail, a process server, or a sheriff, and from legal review if the property is in a heavily regulated market.

What is an eviction fee?

“Eviction fee” can mean two different things. It may refer to the court and legal costs of an eviction case, or to a charge in a lease or property management agreement that covers the landlord’s or manager’s time handling an eviction. Whether a lease-based eviction fee is enforceable against a tenant depends on state law.

Who pays for eviction costs if the landlord wins?

The landlord pays up front. If the landlord wins, the court can typically order the tenant to reimburse:

• Court costs: filing and service fees, recoverable in most states
• Attorney fees: when the lease or a state statute allows it
• Unpaid rent and damages: as proven in the case

Collecting that judgment is a separate step, and recovery is often partial.

Plan for the full cost of eviction, not just the filing fee

So, how much does an eviction cost? Far more than the court fee suggests, once lost rent, legal time, and rental turnover are counted, and the eviction process cost rises with every week a case drags on. The operators who manage this well treat eviction cost as a measurable line item and invest in screening, payments, and compliance to keep that number small.

Learn how MRI Software’s multifamily property management software helps multifamily owners and operators reduce risk and protect revenue across every stage of the resident lifecycle.