Evictions currently are suspended in Oklahoma except in cases of “emergency”

COVID-19 Policy Analysis: As our nation confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, OK Policy will be analyzing state and federal policies that impact our state and its residents during this national health emergency. These posts reflect the most current information available at publication, and we will update or publish follow-ups as new information becomes available.

NOTE: OK Policy is not a state agency and we cannot assist in applying for state services or provide legal advice.

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UPDATE (Wednesday, April 1, 2020): The Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a follow-up order on March 27 closing all courthouses across the state to the public until May 15. Courts may still hear emergency hearings, and local courts may decide what constitutes an emergency. This order extends If you have an eviction case pending, call your Court Clerk’s office to confirm your court date. 

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Oklahoma’s county courts, which handle all civil and most criminal cases across the state, have suspended most of their activities until May 15 at the earliest. That means that eviction hearings are postponed in nearly all cases, and that Oklahomans cannot be forced from their homes by an eviction or foreclosure until May 15 at the earliest. However, judges may still hear “emergency” hearings, leaving open the possibility for some of these cases to be heard. 

If you have a court date, call your Court Clerk to find out when it will be held. Contact information for District Courts is available here.

Here’s what you need to know:

Evictions and foreclosures are suspended in most cases. Don’t move out if you receive an eviction or foreclosure notice!

If you receive an eviction or foreclosure notice, do not move out until told to do so by a court or law enforcement official. Seek legal assistance by calling 2-1-1 (or visiting the 211 website) or submitting your information at OKLegalConnect.org. Mothers who live in North Tulsa can also seek assistance from Still She Rises.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ryan Gentzler worked at OK Policy from January 2016 until November 2022. He last served as the organization's Reserach Director and oversaw Open Justice Oklahoma. He began at OK Policy as an analyst focusing on criminal justice issues, including sentencing, incarceration, court fines and fees, and pretrial detention. Open Justice Oklahoma grew out of Ryan’s groundbreaking analysis of court records, which was used to inform critical policy debates. A native Nebraskan, he holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma and a BA in Institutions and Policy from William Jewell College. He served as an OK Policy Research Fellow in 2014-2015.

23 thoughts on “Evictions currently are suspended in Oklahoma except in cases of “emergency”

  1. Evictions can still be filed by a landlord in all 77 counties. The hearings and removal orders will not be held until April 15th or later, though.

  2. My landlord is showing up knocking on my door and calling for the rent. I can pay or move with a broken wrist during this surgery due to surgery. What can I do?

    1. I am a single elderly woman with a rental unit. I usually work 1 or 2 part time jobs but am staying at home because of Covid-19. SS is all I have to live on because my renter is not paying. If I cant evict and get someone in who can pay, how am I supposed to pay my bills??

      1. That’s a tough situation there, not sure what your bills are, however I would start calling around and seeing what type of assistance your creditors will give you. Many lenders are offering options to ease financial concerns and it would be wise to check what they are offering to help you make it through tough times. Even a lot of the utilities are offering help now so once again, you will want to contact them and see if they can offer you any financial relief while the country works through this pandemic.

    2. You need to see if you can come to some sort of agreement with your Landlord. From the sounds of it he’s not likely to “forgive” past due rent and will want you to pay it. His most likely course of action will be to file for eviction if he does not get paid. While you currently have a stay of execution on the eviction proceedings due to COVID-19, this will not last forever. That being said, most landlords do not report to the credit reporting agencies so it would be in your best interest to move prior to being evicted, as an eviction will most likely show up on your credit report and hamper you from renting from someone else. Once you are out prior to eviction most landlords will forget about past due rent and just keep your security deposit assuming you didn’t damage the unit extensively. This site gives very bad advice saying not to move out if you receive an eviction notice, as you don’t want an eviction to end up on your credit report and you might run into a Landlord like me, who will pursue you in small claims court and put liens on your paycheck.

  3. Censorship at it’s finest, I hope this website and it’s moderators are happy with all the collections and bad credit ratings they are causing with their advice.

    1. Alan you are absolutely correct, these people are basically on hold, they are eminently delaying the inevitable this website acts like the renters won’t be responsible for their rents, this is not a stimulus package. You will have to go to court sooner or later and you will owe more with all the fees and back rent involved. Courts open back up May 15th. Maybe people should have used some of their stimulus money on important stuff like rent instead of shopping on Amazon. Must be democrats running this site trying to get free stuff. Did I just say that? Sorry if I offended anyone.

  4. I have a situation. My landlord allowed my roommate to leave with a 30 day notice without my knowledge or my signature and is expecting me to move out by the end of the month wich is in 5 days ,after getting the notice the day before. I said I’m willing to stay and due to the covid id rather not move somewhere new thats far from my job when I currently live blocks away. I offered her my half but she wants payment in full. I declined and said its not my fault she allowed someone out of the lease without my knowledge…what can I do to find an agreement with her?

  5. I live in an apartment complex here in Okc that furnishes all utilities.. On April 19th a tenant broke the gas meter that supplies the complex. When we were at 10 days with no gas some of and we were told by the property manager over and over to quit asking her when it will be back on and her continuously shutting the door in our faces, we called the city about this and they went to the owners house. The owner now is retaliating against us and is trying to evict all of us that fought for our rights. He can’t legally do this right?

    1. I have rented this house for 4 years and the land lord doesn’t want to renew my lease on June first be cause my neighbor phically assaulted me and managed to call the police first so he and his wife were believed over me I don’t want to move nor have the money. The land lord told me that with neighbors permission I can stay so I’m working on it but the lease ends June 1st with the Corona virus should I just stay into June but pay the rent

  6. I live out in the country with only one neighbor 500 ft from my house he and his wife have a VPO against me so the landlord decided to not renew my lease again and I’ve lived here 4 years it ends the1st of June 2020 I don’t want to move and the landlord told me I could stay with my neighbors approval. So my question is what should I do stay here after June 1st to see if we can get it worked out so I don’t have to move

  7. I had a job where I lived where I worked, and was fired during a self quarintine,I know the conditions surrounding my firing were wrongful,and am currently seeking help thru legal aid.As the apt was a condition of my employment, I was just served a 5 day notice .Will I be able to hold off the ,eviction ,because of my up and coming court case on the unlawful termination

  8. I am an apartment manager in Norman. My delinquency since March is over $19,000. This entire hold on evictions has caused complete chaos. I guess no one thought about the fact that squatters have rights in this State! It’s one thing to have such a large delinquency but the damages these drugged out squatters are causing is astronomical. We can’t evict them either and they know it. I have a nice property right by OU and my residents are scared to be in their own homes. These squatters are accessing the adjacent units through the attics, using gas generators inside the units, trying to enter occupied units, peeping in windows and that’s just a small list of the things we’re dealing with. The police can’t do anything unless they catch them in the act. I don’t even want to get started on the actual residents that were leased to and what their doing because they know we can’t do a single thing about it. My property is in complete pandemonium. I left at 6:00 by the time I got home in Moore I had six calls from the police and I just got back at 12:33 am from the police department signing a no-trespass citation. The one and only time, since this all started that the police actually removed someone. I have a friend at the housing authority that said she’s sending out fists full of cancellations of housing assistance to people they’ve paid rent on for years, due to little or no income that are suddenly receiving unemployment. This means they were working behind the scenes, until they realized it that it benefitted them to say something.

  9. What is important to remember is that under federal law, some evictions still may not be filed with the court. The CARES Act, signed into law Mar. 27, 2020, provides 120 days of eviction relief for tenants in federally-backed housing. Specifically, you may not be served with an eviction notice until July 25, 2020 and the notice must give you 30 days to leave the property

  10. My Mom is being Foreclosed on due to my sister keeping the mortgage payment money, and not paying for 4 months at least… The sister also stole her entire 401k while Mom was in the hospital. Also ran up multiple credit cards and didn’t pay, ruining Moms credit. And feeds her alcohol addiction with vodka to control and continue to steal her SSI, and lie, is supposed to be caretaker, but is committing elder abuse. But, Mom refuses to turn her in, bc of my niece… is still letting my sister live for free. Anything I can do to help keep the house??May call the D.A. about financial exploitation…I have proof. Without Moms assistance in pressing charges, if I file, does it do anything?

  11. Disabled vet living in bryan county..Oklahoma…eviction in morning…any pointers asap!! :))Please..!??

  12. My roommate told me I had until December 1st to move out I have already found a place currently sleeping there but if not moved out of my residence that I’m being evicted from they have already packed my stuff while I was away and told me to come get it while I still can now since my toothbrush my pillow clothes etc also receiving mail there that’s defines residents does it not what do I do

  13. I’m being evicted I owe no money I was caregiver to owner and moved in with him he died and they are evicting me ,I’m scared I will be homeless I have no where to go and with covid my chances increase of dying of covid being homeless what can I do

  14. I’m being evicted I owe no money I was caregiver to owner who died I moved in with him to care for him now his family is evicting me and I was not and I am not working because and I’m going to be homeless and my chances of getting covid increase being homeless I have asthma and copd .is it ok to cause someone to be homeless during the pandemic and my fear has increased what about the no fear I’m scared to death I dont matter I guess what can I do help

  15. These tenants are running all over the landlord’s and laughing because they know we can’t do anything right now! It’s a shame! My tenant is harassing, taring up things and daring for me to do anything! This is outrageous!

  16. Okay just start off with I am a worker on the front line at a homeless shelter. men’s dorm supervisor graveyard shift. I went through Arc Salvation Army’s rehab. I met the supervisor of the kitchen during my 6 months stay, at graduation we shook hands. I stayed in a homeless shelter for two and a half years trying to get on my feet. at that time he also lost his place to stay. him and his wife they got back on their feet and I was being forced out of the homeless shelter because I was making money now working for them. when I told Ra*** Sax*** (the one renting the room to me)about my situation he said he had a room that he would rent out to me. it would help him pay off what he borrowed from me. I agreed verbally. a couple months later his debt is paid up, and now he wants to kick me out. there was no lease signed. We had a verbal agreement. he gave me a piece of paper under my door. He didn’t even talk to me about it. The paper stated i have 30 days. that is June 3rd. it is May 11th and he said he wants me to start moving my stuff out. I looked on some sites and it said without a lease I’m a squatter and he can just call the police and have me removed. Is that true? does people like me and my situation have rights? I have a little bit of money saved up. I spent all my money on materials to build Mobile Mini homes for the homeless. the materials was part of the reason why he doesn’t want me to be here.verbal agreement he said I could use half the shed for whatever means. when I started putting material in there he told me that I need to remove it. I said its part of the agreement when I moved in. maybe you should lower the rent if that’s the case. he denied and told me move the stuff or move out. a month later I’m being served an eviction notice under my door. not legal serving. just a note under my door stating I need to leave in 30 days. now he wants me to start moving out early what can I do? please help I’ve already gotten rid of half the materials. because of him I only have a little bit left I wanted to at least build one. what if he decides to throw the stuff out while I’m at work? what if I come back home and the doors locked? what do I do in situations like that? I have a key but what if he changes the locks? what if he throws all my stuff out? I have so many questions I don’t even know who to ask. your reply will be greatly appreciated no matter what it says. thank you for your service to the public. I didn’t know who to turn to. someone referred this site to me. not even sure if I’m on the right site.

  17. My landlord gave me a 30 day notice to QUIT!! He has $8800 hundred dollars of my money from Community Care Partners. All I ask him to do is to fix repair and replace the water damage in the house as well as patio and other things. I just had surgery on my rotator cuff. Cant lift nothing over 10 pounds or overhead.

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