How Long Does an Eviction Take? The Notice, the Hearing and the Writ, State by State

16 states set 3 days: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. 7 set 5 days: Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Wisconsin. 9 set 7: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada and New Hampshire. 8 set 10: Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania. 7 set 14: Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

The count method matters as much as the number. California counts 3 days without Saturdays, Sundays or court holidays; Alabama counts 7 business days after receipt (Ala. Code 35-9A-421); Nevada counts 7 judicial days (NRS 40.253); Oregon gives 10 or 13 days depending on when in the rental period the notice is served (ORS 90.394). Hawaii, during its pilot from February 5, 2026 to February 4, 2028, sets 10 calendar days, and if the tenant schedules mediation within that time the landlord may file only after 20 calendar days from receipt. Wisconsin's 5 days cover month-to-month tenancies and leases of a year or less; a lease of more than a year requires 30 days (Wis. Stat. 704.17).

In many of these states the tenant can end the matter by paying in full within the notice period, so the case is filed only if the notice runs out unpaid.

The fastest statutes set a hearing within days: Arizona 3 to 6 days from the summons date (A.R.S. 33-1377), Maryland the fifth day after filing in a failure-to-pay-rent case (Real Prop. 8-401), Iowa no later than 8 days from filing (Iowa Code 648.5), North Carolina within 7 days of the summons, not counting weekends and holidays (G.S. 42-28), and Michigan within 10 days of the summons (MCL 600.5735).

Others build in more time: Texas 10 to 21 days after filing (Tex. R. Civ. P. 510), Virginia within 21 days of filing with an outside limit of 30 (Va. Code 8.01-126), New Jersey at least 21 days from service of the summons, and Washington 7 to 30 days from service of the order (RCW 59.18.370). California runs on an answer period instead: 10 court days after personal service, and 10 calendar days plus 10 court days after substituted service or posting and mailing.

A contested case then gets a trial date: within 60 days of service of the complaint in Utah (Utah Code 78B-6-810), and within 30 days of the return date for a Wisconsin small claims eviction (Wis. Stat. 799.206).

After a judgment for possession, the statute sets when the writ may issue and the officer's warning. Florida's sheriff acts after 24 hours' notice posted on the property (Fla. Stat. 83.62), Iowa executes removal within 3 days of judgment (Iowa Code 648.22), and in a Nevada summary eviction the officer posts the order within 24 hours and removes the tenant 24 to 36 hours later (NRS 40.253).

Others wait longer. Arizona issues no writ until 5 calendar days after judgment (A.R.S. 12-1178), California's sheriff gives 5 days on a notice to vacate once the writ issues, and Texas issues no writ before the sixth day after judgment, with a warning posted at least 24 hours before execution (Tex. Prop. Code 24.0061). Michigan waits 10 days after judgment (MCL 600.5744), and Colorado at least 10 days, or 30 for a tenant receiving SSI, SSDI or Colorado Works, with exceptions (C.R.S. 13-40-122). Pennsylvania issues the writ after the fifth day and executes it on the eleventh day after service (68 P.S. 250.503), New York gives at least 14 days' notice before the warrant is executed (RPAPL 749), and Vermont puts the landlord in possession no earlier than 14 days after the writ is served (12 V.S.A. 4854).