Add up filing fees, service of process, attorney time, lost rent, and turnover repairs to see what an eviction really costs - and how many months of a new tenant's rent it takes to break even.
These four examples are hand-computable with the defaults shown. Click the matching example button above the calculator to load any of them. In each case Total Cost = Filing + Attorney + Lost Rent + Turnover − Security Deposit.
| Scenario | State | Lost Rent | Attorney | Filing | Turnover | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical California | CA | 3 × $1,800 = $5,400 | $2,500 | $500 | $2,000 | $8,600 |
| Fast Texas Eviction | TX | 1 × $1,500 = $1,500 | $1,000 | $200 | $800 | $3,500 |
| Contested New York | NY | 6 × $2,400 = $14,400 | $6,000 | $250 | $1,500 | $22,150 |
| Squatter / Long Vacancy | CA | 9 × $2,000 = $18,000 | $4,500 | $500 | $3,500 | $26,500 |
On the Typical California case: $500 filing + $2,500 attorney + (3 × $1,800 = $5,400) lost rent + $2,000 turnover = $10,400, minus the $1,800 deposit applied, leaves $8,600 in true out-of-pocket cost — about 4.8 months of rent.
Filing fees below are typical approximate figures for a standard residential non-payment eviction. Service-of-process costs, sheriff fees, and local court surcharges vary and are extra. Timelines assume an uncontested or lightly contested case.
| State | Filing Fee | Typical Timeline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $435 | 3-6 months | High fees plus mandatory pre-filing notices; some cities require mediation. |
| Texas | $121 | 3-8 weeks | Fastest docket in the country for simple non-payment cases. |
| New York | $210 | 4-8 months | Housing court backlog; tenants get automatic adjournments. |
| Florida | $185 | 3-5 weeks | Statutory 3-day notice, then a quick hearing calendar. |
| Illinois | $181 | 2-4 months | Cook County is slow; downstate counties move much faster. |
| Georgia | $120 | 4-6 weeks | Low fees and a magistrate-court process that moves quickly. |
All figures are typical and approximate for planning only. Your courthouse's fee schedule and your county's docket speed control the real numbers.
Every state follows roughly the same seven-stage sequence. Understanding where the money goes at each stage is what turns a surprising bill into a predictable one.
The court fees are the smallest part of the bill. On a typical eviction the filing, service, and writ fees together rarely exceed $1,000. The real damage is attorney time plus vacancy. Because rent keeps not arriving while the case works through the calendar, a three-month case on a $1,800 unit silently costs $5,400 before you have paid a single lawyer.
Break-even months is the number that matters most. It tells you how many rent checks a new paying tenant must deliver before you are whole again. If that number is higher than the average tenant stay in your market, the eviction is a permanent loss.
An uncontested eviction — the tenant never shows up or concedes at the first hearing — is routinely 3 to 5 times cheaper than a contested one. A contested case adds attorney hours for discovery, continuances, jury demands, and appeals, and every extra month of calendar time is another month of lost rent. This is why "just pay them to leave" is often the cheaper business decision.
| Approach | Typical Cost | Time to Possession | Best When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncontested eviction | $2,000 - $5,000 (1-2 mo. rent) | 3-8 weeks | Tenant has clearly vacated or will not appear |
| Contested eviction | $8,000 - $25,000 (5-10 mo. rent) | 4-9 months | Tenant has counsel, counterclaims, or habitability defenses |
| Cash for keys | $500 - $3,000 | 3-14 days | Tenant is reachable and just needs a soft landing |
1. Cash for keys. Offer $500-$2,000 to vacate by a date certain with the unit broom-clean. It costs a fraction of a contested eviction and takes days instead of months.
2. Offer a written payment plan first. A tenant who catches up is almost always cheaper than a tenant who is removed. Put the plan in writing and note that default reinstates the eviction.
3. Screen hard at move-in. The cheapest eviction is the one you never file. Verify income (3x rent), check rental history with prior landlords by phone, and check court records for prior eviction filings.
4. Use an attorney only where required. In many states a landlord may appear pro se in an uncontested non-payment case. Never attempt a contested case without counsel.
5. Keep a paper trail. Complete notices, dated rent ledgers, and written communications win uncontested hearings and prevent expensive continuances.
6. Simultaneously re-market the unit. Reducing vacancy by even two weeks offsets a large share of the filing and service cost.
The courthouse receipt is the only part of an eviction that looks cheap. A statutory filing fee of $120 to $435 and a sheriff's service fee of $50 to $200 add up to well under $1,000 in most states. Yet landlords routinely spend $3,000 to $25,000 to remove a single tenant. The gap is not corruption or hidden fees — it is time, vacancy, and labor.
Three forces dominate the true cost:
Lost rent is the largest line item. Rent stops the day the tenant defaults, but the unit does not start producing again until the lockout is complete and repairs are finished. A three-month eviction on an $1,800 unit is $5,400 of pure vacancy — more than the filing and service fees combined several times over. Because rent is a recurring loss while legal fees are one-time, every extra week of delay compounds.
Attorney time scales with contest, not with the unit. An uncontested non-payment hearing may take ten minutes and cost $300-$800. The same case becomes contested the moment the tenant asserts a habitability defense, files a counterclaim, or asks for a continuance. Discovery, second hearings, and appeals can push legal fees past $6,000 on a property renting for $1,800.
Turnover and repairs are the forgotten tail. Tenants facing eviction rarely leave a unit clean or intact. Hauling, deep cleaning, paint, flooring, and unpaid utilities commonly add $1,500-$4,000. The security deposit offsets only part of this, and in many states the deposit must be returned if you cannot document deductions item by item.
Filing fees, notice periods, and court speed vary enormously by state, and those three variables drive the total cost more than anything else. A Texas non-payment case can reach lockout in three to eight weeks; the same case in New York or parts of California can take four to eight months before a sheriff arrives.
| State | Filing Fee | Typical Timeline | What Drives the Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $435 | 3-6 months | High filing fee, 3-day notice, mandatory mediation in some cities. |
| Texas | $121 | 3-8 weeks | Cheap filing and a fast justice-of-the-peace docket. |
| New York | $210 | 4-8 months | Housing court backlog; adjournments are routine. |
| Florida | $185 | 3-5 weeks | Fast hearing calendar after a 3-day notice. |
| Illinois | $181 | 2-4 months | Cook County slow; downstate much faster. |
| Georgia | $120 | 4-6 weeks | Low fees plus a quick magistrate court. |
Two takeaways follow from the table. First, the filing fee is never the story — even California's $435 is a rounding error next to three months of vacancy. Second, timeline is the multiplier: moving a case from 8 months to 3 saves roughly five months of rent, which on a $1,800 unit is $9,000. Choosing a market with a fast eviction docket is, in effect, an insurance policy.
⚠️ Important: Eviction law varies significantly by state, county, and city, and the fee and timeline figures shown here are typical approximations for planning purposes only. This calculator is not legal advice. Self-help evictions such as changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing a tenant's belongings are illegal in most jurisdictions and expose you to serious liability. Consult a local landlord-tenant attorney before serving notice or filing.