Idaho eviction law

Serve a written notice giving the tenant 3 days to pay the rent due or give up possession. It must state the amount due and tell a residential tenant that, if a court enters judgment against them, they will have 72 hours to remove their belongings before you may remove and dispose of them.

Idaho Code § 6-303(2)

• To recover attorney fees in a nonpayment case, the notice must also advise the tenant that attorney fees shall be awarded to the prevailing party. Idaho Code § 6-324
• Serve it by handing it to the tenant. If the tenant is away from home and work, leave a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion there and mail a copy to the residence; if neither works, post a copy in a conspicuous place on the property, give one to a person living there if one can be found, and mail one to the property. Idaho Code § 6-304
• If a subtenant actually occupies the home, serve the subtenant too. Idaho Code § 6-303(2)
• You may serve the notice at any time within one year after the rent becomes due. Idaho Code § 6-303(2)
• Idaho counts a period by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday (every Sunday is one), in which case it is excluded too. Idaho Code § 73-109 Idaho Code § 73-108

For a breach other than unpaid rent, serve a written notice giving the tenant 3 days to perform the broken condition or covenant or give up possession. If the tenant performs within the 3 days, the lease is saved.

Idaho Code § 6-303(3)

• If the broken covenant cannot be performed afterward, no notice to perform is needed. Idaho Code § 6-303(3)
• Committing waste, or assigning or subletting contrary to the lease, terminates the lease and lets you recover possession after a 3-day notice to quit, but the statute also lists a covenant not to assign or sublet among those a tenant may cure within 3 days, so the safer notice for an unauthorized assignment or sublet gives 3 days to cure or leave. Idaho Code § 6-303(4) Idaho Code § 6-303(3)
• Anyone's unlawful delivery, production or use of a controlled substance on the premises during the term is unlawful detainer, and such a possession case gets the fast trial schedule. Idaho Code § 6-303(5) Idaho Code § 6-310(1), (2) See Eviction process on the Idaho page
• Serve the notice the same ways as a notice for unpaid rent, including on any subtenant in actual occupation. Idaho Code § 6-304 Idaho Code § 6-303(3)

File an unlawful detainer action in the district court of the county where the property is. In a possession case for unpaid rent or controlled-substance activity on a tract of 5 acres or less, the court sets trial within 12 days of filing, and the tenant must be served at least 5 days before trial.

Idaho Code § 6-305 Idaho Code § 6-310(2)

• Those fast possession cases are tried by the judge without a jury, and a continuance longer than 2 days requires the tenant to post security for the rent. Idaho Code § 6-311A Idaho Code § 6-311
• Adding a damages claim to the possession claim removes the fast trial schedule. Idaho Code § 6-311E
• The complaint and answer must be verified. Idaho Code § 6-318
• The district court may assign unlawful detainer cases to a magistrate. Idaho Code § 1-2208
• A judgment for you restores possession, ends the lease in a rent or breach case, and awards the rent found due and damages. Idaho Code § 6-316(1)
• An appeal does not stop the judgment unless the court orders it. Idaho Code § 6-319
• The prevailing party is entitled to attorney fees, except where treble damages are awarded. Idaho Code § 6-324
• For a case filed on or after January 1, 2025, the records are shielded from public view without a petition if the whole case was dismissed, no appeal is pending, and 3 years have passed since filing or the parties filed a stipulation to shield. Idaho Code § 6-303A
• For a nonpayment case, the Idaho Court Assistance Office groups its forms by stage: the three-day notice and service affidavit; the civil information sheet, expedited complaint and summons; proof of service of the court papers; then hearing documents, judgment and writ. Use the current instructions and confirm that the nonpayment packet fits the claim. Keep copies of completed papers; listing a default form in the packet does not mean a landlord automatically wins. Idaho Court Assistance Office: housing forms
• The same official page provides a tenant answer for a nonpayment eviction and instructs the tenant to file it before the trial hearing date. Read the summons promptly, file the appropriate response and prepare to attend the hearing. Do not assume that the expedited process removes the need to respond, or that the separate forcible-detainer packet fits an ordinary rent dispute. Idaho Court Assistance Office: housing forms

Recover possession through the courts. Entering by breaking open doors or windows or by violence, or turning out the person in possession by force, threats or menacing conduct, is forcible entry, and keeping possession by force or threats is forcible detainer. Damages for a forcible or unlawful entry or detention may be tripled.

Idaho Code § 6-301 Idaho Code § 6-302 Idaho Code § 6-317

• After a judgment for possession, the sheriff restores possession to you. Idaho Code § 6-316(2) See Eviction process on the Idaho page
• A fast sheriff removal procedure exists for unauthorized occupants, but it is not available against current or former tenants under a written or oral rental agreement. Idaho Code § 6-310A(2)(f)
• No section of chapter 3 addresses shutting off a tenant's utilities. Idaho Code title 6, ch. 3

After a judgment for possession, a residential tenant has 72 hours to remove belongings. Once that time has passed and 3 days have run since the court's finding, the sheriff restores possession and you may remove and dispose of what remains, subject to any security interests under Idaho Code title 28, chapter 9, without further compensation to the tenant.

Idaho Code § 6-316(2)

• A commercial tenant, or a tenant on a tract of 5 acres or more, has 7 days, which a court may extend for a commercial tenant on good cause. Idaho Code § 6-316(2)
• On good cause, the court may award you reasonable costs of removing the property and restoring the premises. Idaho Code § 6-316(2)
• No section of the chapters read covers belongings left by a tenant who leaves without a judgment. Idaho Code title 6, ch. 3 Idaho Code title 55, ch. 3

The general landlord-tenant chapters (title 6, ch. 3 and title 55, chs. 2 and 3) have no retaliation section, but Idaho's Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to treat anyone worse because they opposed a practice the Act forbids or filed a charge or took part in an investigation or case under it, and the Manufactured Home Residency Act bars retaliation against residents of rented lots in a manufactured home community.

Idaho Code title 6, ch. 3 Idaho Code title 55, ch. 2 Idaho Code title 55, ch. 3 Idaho Code § 67-5911 Idaho Code § 55-2015

• A manufactured home community landlord may not end or refuse to renew a lot tenancy, raise rent, cut services or threaten eviction because a resident complained in good faith to a code agency or to the landlord, joined a resident association or hired counsel. Idaho Code § 55-2015
• A tenant's statutory remedy for conditions and deposits is a lawsuit after a 3-day notice. Idaho Code § 6-320(d) See Tenant repair remedies on the Idaho page