Outline of the eviction process in Vermont

Vermont is a slow eviction state. The case is an ejectment action in the Civil Division of the Superior Court under 12 V.S.A. Chapter 169, and the termination notice periods in 9 V.S.A. § 4467 are longer than in most states, especially for no-cause terminations. The tool that keeps a nonpayment case moving is the rent escrow (pay-into-court) motion under 12 V.S.A. § 4853a, which can lead to a writ of possession without a full trial if the tenant stops paying into court. A 2025 amendment also changed how quickly the writ of possession issues and runs after judgment, so timelines that were accurate a few years ago may no longer be.

1. Grounds for eviction in Vermont

• Nonpayment of rent (§ 4467(a)).
• Material noncompliance with the rental agreement (§ 4467(b)(1)).
• Criminal activity, illegal drug activity, or acts of violence that threaten the health or safety of others (§ 4467(b)(2)).
• No cause: ending a tenancy with no written rental agreement (§ 4467(c)), non-renewal at the end of a written lease term (§ 4467(e)), or sale of the building (§ 4467(d)).
• Ending shared occupancy of a room in the landlord’s own home with shared common areas (§ 4467(h)).

Vermont has no statewide just-cause eviction law. Burlington voters approved a just-cause eviction charter change, but the Governor vetoed the enabling bill in May 2022 and the House did not override it. A new version, H.462, was introduced on March 12, 2025 and was referred to committee with no further recorded action, so no Burlington just-cause charter provision is in force; a Vermont charter amendment takes effect only when the General Assembly approves it. Retaliation is a recognized defense, and the state’s fair housing law reaches source-of-income discrimination.

2. Notice periods (9 V.S.A. § 4467)

The length of a no-cause notice depends on whether there is a written rental agreement and on how long the tenant has lived there. The statute treats those two situations differently, and using the wrong column is a common mistake.

• Nonpayment: 14 days actual notice (§ 4467(a)). The tenancy does not terminate if the tenant pays the rent due for the rental period in which payment is made or tendered.
• Material noncompliance: 30 days actual notice before the termination date (§ 4467(b)(1)).
• Criminal activity, illegal drugs, or violence: 14 days actual notice (§ 4467(b)(2)).
• No written rental agreement, no-cause: 60 days if the tenant has lived there two years or less, 90 days if longer, both measured from the date of actual notice; 21 days for a week-to-week tenancy (§ 4467(c)).
• Written rental agreement, non-renewal at term end: 30 days before the term expires if the tenancy has run two years or less, 60 days if longer; 7 days for a week-to-week agreement under a written lease (§ 4467(e)).
• Sale of the building: 30 days after the date of actual notice, where the landlord has contracted to sell (§ 4467(d)).
• Shared occupancy (a room in the landlord’s own residence with shared common space): either party may end it on 15 days notice if rent is paid monthly, 7 days if paid weekly (§ 4467(h)).
• Federally covered properties generally require the additional CARES Act 30-day notice; this should be confirmed against current federal guidance for the specific property.

Every notice must state a specific termination date (§ 4467(f)). Notice must be “actual notice”: written notice hand-delivered or mailed to the last known address, and if you prove it went by first-class or certified mail, it is presumed received three days after mailing (9 V.S.A. § 4451(1)). Hand delivery with a witness, or first-class and certified mail together, are the common ways to document it. A landlord’s acceptance of rent after a termination notice for breach or no cause, or during a pending ejectment action, does not by itself waive the termination (§ 4467(j)). A compliant notice only supports an ejectment judgment if the case is filed no later than 60 days after the termination date stated in the notice (§ 4467(k)); miss that window and a fresh notice is required.

3. Filing the ejectment complaint

File a Complaint for Ejectment in the Civil Division of the Superior Court for the county where the property sits (12 V.S.A. §§ 4851 to 4852). A copy of the rental agreement, if any, and the termination notice must be attached to the complaint (§ 4852). The Civil Division filing fee is $295 (32 V.S.A. § 1431(b)(1), Vermont Judiciary fee schedule); confirm it with the clerk, since fees change. The Judiciary says the tenant generally has 21 days after service to file a written answer; confirm the number on the summons before calendaring a default.

Consider filing the rent escrow motion with the complaint in a nonpayment case. Under 12 V.S.A. § 4853a, the landlord may move, with a supporting affidavit, for an order requiring the tenant to pay rent into court as it comes due while the case is pending. The hearing on the motion is set for no earlier than 14 days after notice to the parties, not necessarily within 14 days, so build that lead time into the schedule. If the tenant appears at that hearing and has not been defaulted, the court will not enter a default unless the tenant fails to file a written answer within 14 days after the hearing (§ 4853a(b)). Against an unauthorized occupant where the written lease bars subleasing, a separate motion for immediate possession is available, heard after 10 days’ notice, with the writ executed no sooner than 5 days after service (§ 4853b). If the tenant fails to pay into court as ordered, the landlord is entitled to judgment for immediate possession without a trial on the merits, and the court forthwith issues a writ of possession.

4. Default, hearing and trial

If the tenant does not answer by the deadline, move for default judgment. If the tenant appears and has not defaulted, the court will not enter default judgment against them, and if the tenant answers the case proceeds to a status conference and, in many counties, referral to mediation before trial. Trial is before a judge unless a jury is demanded. Bring the lease, the rent ledger, the notice with proof it was actually received, and photographs or records for breach cases. Common defenses include a defective or miscounted notice, waiver by accepting rent, retaliation, and breach of the implied warranty of habitability (§ 4458), which can support withholding rent after the landlord has been given written notice of the defect and a reasonable opportunity to repair; the exact cure period should be confirmed for the specific defect and lease, since it is not a single fixed number in every case.

5. Writ of possession and the sheriff

After judgment for the landlord, a writ of possession issues on the date judgment is entered, unless the court orders a stay for good cause; it is not automatically delayed by a fixed number of days after judgment (12 V.S.A. § 4854, as amended by 2025, No. 13, § 1, effective May 5, 2025). The writ directs a sheriff to serve it on the tenant, and the sheriff may not put the landlord into possession earlier than 14 days after the writ is served. Where possession is obtained instead through the rent escrow default procedure of § 4853a, the wait after service is shorter, 7 days, or 30 days for an eviction brought under 10 V.S.A. Chapter 153 (mobile home park lot rent cases). The sheriff, not the landlord, schedules and carries out the move-out.

Property the tenant leaves behind must be stored in a safe, dry, secured location; the landlord may discard obvious trash without notice. For everything else, the landlord must send written notice to the tenant’s last known address before disposing of it, and the tenant has 60 days to reclaim it by giving a reasonable written description and paying the reasonable cost of storage (9 V.S.A. § 4462). A different rule applies after an eviction: once the sheriff has served the writ of possession, the landlord may dispose of property left in the unit without notice 15 days after the writ was served or possession restored, whichever is later (40 days in a mobile home park lot rent case, and one day after restoration if execution had been stayed) (12 V.S.A. § 4854a). If the tenant gave actual notice of vacating, or left property behind at the end of the lease term, the landlord may dispose of it without further notice. Self-help is unlawful: a landlord may not willfully cut off utility service except for genuine emergency repairs, and may not deny a tenant access to the unit or to the tenant’s property except through the judicial process described above (9 V.S.A. § 4463). A tenant harmed by a violation may sue for injunctive relief, damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees; a landlord can recover fees in return if the tenant’s claim was frivolous or made in bad faith (9 V.S.A. § 4464).

Typical timeline

Step	Typical time
Notice	14 days (nonpayment or violence), 30 days (breach), 21 to 90 days (no cause, depending on lease status and tenancy length)
File ejectment complaint	must be filed within 60 days of the notice’s termination date
Answer deadline	commonly 21 days after service; confirm on the summons
Rent escrow hearing	no earlier than 14 days after notice to the parties
Default or trial	weeks to a few months, depending on the county and whether contested
Writ of possession	issues on the date of judgment absent a stay; sheriff executes no earlier than 14 days after service (7 or 30 days if obtained through a rent escrow default)

A well-documented, uncontested nonpayment case that uses the rent escrow motion typically moves faster than a contested breach or no-cause case, because the no-cause notice periods alone can run 60 to 90 days before a complaint can even be filed.

Recent law changes landlords should know

• Writ of possession timing changed. 2025, No. 13, § 1 (effective May 5, 2025) amended 12 V.S.A. § 4854 so the writ issues on the date judgment is entered rather than after a set post-judgment waiting period, while keeping a minimum 14-day wait after the writ is served before the sheriff puts the landlord in possession. Guides and forms written before mid-2025 may still describe the older timing.
• Rent escrow procedure. 12 V.S.A. § 4853a was last amended in 2023 (2023, No. 46, § 8); confirm you are working from the current version of the motion and order forms.
• Just-cause charter proposal not enacted. Burlington’s just-cause charter change was vetoed in May 2022 and the veto stood; H.462, introduced March 12, 2025, has not moved out of committee.

What actually goes wrong

• Using the no-written-lease no-cause notice periods (60 or 90 days) for a tenant who actually has a written lease, or the reverse; the two tracks in § 4467(c) and (e) have different day counts.
• Filing the ejectment complaint more than 60 days after the termination date stated in the notice, which makes the notice insufficient to support judgment under § 4467(k).
• Treating notice as given when it was mailed rather than when it actually reached the tenant; Vermont requires actual notice.
• Skipping the rent escrow motion in a nonpayment case and then waiting months for a contested trial that the motion could have shortened.
• Assuming the writ of possession follows the old fixed delay after judgment instead of the timing set by the 2025 amendment.
• Disposing of a tenant’s left-behind property before the 60-day claim window in § 4462 has run.
• Cutting off utilities or changing the locks before a sheriff executes a writ; this is a self-help eviction and exposes the landlord to damages, costs and attorney’s fees under § 4463 and § 4464.

When to bring in an attorney

Vermont ejectment is a full civil action with pleadings, motions and the possibility of discovery, and tenants are frequently represented by legal aid counsel. A landlord should use counsel for anything beyond a simple, uncontested nonpayment case, and even there the rent escrow motion is worth having drafted correctly the first time. The Vermont attorneys listed on this site represent landlords in these proceedings.

Sources

• 9 V.S.A. Chapter 137 (Residential Rental Agreements), §§ 4458, 4461, 4462, 4463, 4464, 4467, as published on the Vermont General Assembly statutes site.
• 12 V.S.A. Chapter 169 (Ejectment), §§ 4851, 4852, 4853a, 4854, as published on the Vermont General Assembly statutes site.
• 2025, No. 13, § 1 (effective May 5, 2025), amending 12 V.S.A. § 4854.
• 2023, No. 46, § 8 (effective June 5, 2023), amending 12 V.S.A. § 4853a.
• Vermont Judiciary, Civil Division self-help materials on ejectment actions.

This guide is general information about Vermont eviction procedure, not legal advice for any specific situation. Statutes and their interpretation change, and an attorney should confirm current requirements before a landlord relies on any notice period, filing deadline or procedural step described here.