My landlord is about to evict me, what can I do?

In the State of West Virginia, landlords must utilize the Magistrate Court in order to evict someone from a rental unit. This means that you must be served papers outlining the date and time of the eviction hearing. If you did NOT receive papers from the Magistrate Court, your landlord cannot evict you. It is important that you attend your hearing even if you are not disputing the basis for eviction. The Magistrate Judge will rule on the eviction at the hearing and state the date that you must be out of your unit. It is very important to begin working on an alternative housing plan as soon as you learn that your landlord intends to evict you. Waiting until the day that the judge ordered you out of the unit may make it more challenging to find a preferred housing placement.