Eviction is the legal process of forcing someone to move out of a property they're renting. When a landlord evicts a tenant, it means the tenant must leave the apartment, house, or building, usually because they haven't paid rent or have broken important rules in their rental agreement.

Eviction isn't something a landlord can do on a whim. There's a formal legal process that protects both the property owner and the renter. The landlord must give proper notice and often must go to court to get an eviction order from a judge. Only then can the tenant be required to leave.

Being evicted can be serious and disruptive, affecting where someone lives and making it harder to rent in the future.

You might hear the word used more broadly too. If your brother kicks you out of his room, he might jokingly say he's “evicting” you, though real eviction only applies to legal rental situations. A person who faces this process is an evictee, while the person carrying it out (usually a landlord) is an evictor.