Avoiding eviction - How to keep your apartment or house

WHAT DOES DELOGGING MEAN?

An eviction is a forced eviction from your apartment or property. The basic prerequisite for eviction is a legally valid title - an eviction can therefore only take place after a court decision and not at the discretion of your landlord

ON WHAT GROUNDS CAN I BE DELISTED?

The following reasons most frequently lead to an eviction action and subsequently to eviction:

• Rent arrears

• Damage to the rented items

• Expiry of the rental agreement without return to the landlord

• Unlawful subletting to third parties

Even if you are not aware of any guilt, you should react quickly if you are sued for eviction to avoid losing your home. If you miss the court proceedings, you will still receive a judgment and will not be able to present your side of the story.

HOW QUICKLY CAN I BE EVICTED?

Since the landlord must first file an eviction suit before threatening to evict you, you still have enough time to react. You can take a stand in court and perhaps change the landlord's mind after all. If this does not work, the court can also dismiss the eviction action in certain cases:

• Pay off rent debt: If you pay off your rent debts quickly, you can avert eviction due to rent arrears - be sure to send proof of payment to the relevant court as evidence.

• Prove a case of hardship: If you are threatened with homelessness after being evicted, if you are pregnant, seriously ill or very frail and have small children living in your household, it is usually unreasonable to expect you to move out. Even if you cannot use these arguments to avert the eviction, you will at least buy yourself some more time and delay the eviction date.

• Use your right of objection: If you have already received the execution order, you can still make use of your right of objection within four weeks. Only then can a delogation date be set.

• Apply for a postponement of eviction: In the event of serious illness or if there are underage children living in your household, you have a good chance of getting an extension to the eviction deadline.

If you make use of all your options, your eviction action including eviction can be delayed by up to a year. To make sure that your eviction action is justified at all, you can also seek legal advice in many places.

Source: www.mietrechtsinfo.at (as at January 2024)

SUPPORT AS HELP IN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Many municipalities offer financial support in the form of grants in special circumstances. If you have rent debts or need repairs in your rented apartment, it is best to contact a social worker.

You must fulfill these requirements in Vienna, for example:

• Possession of Austrian citizenship or legal residence in Austria for more than 3 months.

• Main residence and center of life in Vienna.

• Family or economic hardship due to which you are unable to avert delogation yourself despite mustering all your resources and strength.

• Financial support can improve your life situation in the long term.

• You participate in the testing procedure and also in overcoming your plight as best you can.

Get an overview of which documents you need for the submission.

Source: wien.gv.at (as of January 2024)

SOCIAL AGENCIES FOR FINANCIAL OR LEGAL SUPPORT

You can contact the following advice centers:

Caritas social counseling: Support, advice, care and financial support within the scope of possibilities.
Wohnschirm: Legal advice and counseling for obtaining financial support.
Oesterreich.gv.at: Help with imminent homelessness - support, advice, housing.

SELLING OR PAWNING ASSETS

If you have already exhausted all other options and are still threatened with eviction due to a financial bottleneck, you also have the option of paying off your rent debt by selling or pawning items:

Selling collateral:

Collateral that you no longer need cannot only be sold on platforms such as willhaben or eBay. Although you can often get the best price there, you first have to wait for a buyer. A dealer like can buy your collateral immediately and pay out the money to you straight away in cash or as a transfer to your PayPal or bank account.

Find the right buyers for your items:

Borrow money:

The following options are suitable for borrowing money quickly to bridge the gap:

• Personal loan

• pawn loan

• Car loan

• Other options for short-term bridging

AVERTING EVICTION PROCEEDINGS

How to avert further eviction proceedings and get your financial bottleneck under control in the long term

1. Create income and expenditure statement

2. Save on unnecessary purchases - where can you reduce your spending?

3. Asking for a pay rise or looking for a temporary part-time job

4. Get help from a debt counseling service

5. Build up reserves for emergencies

6. Part with collateral before it loses value