When Lawyers get involved... you waited too long.
TT
There is no point to discussing this. this person should get a local lawyer, and tell him/her everything. The laws differ incredibly from state/state and locale to locale. I was turned off from every owning an renting out property again after living in Illinois. A renter has to be actively murdering people in front of multiple witnesses in order to get quickly evicted there (OK, this is a slight exaggeration). Beyond this, it can take weeks to years - yes, years - and you WILL need a lawyer. OTOH, the further south you go, the more things favor the landlord. In some places in Georgia, for example, not paying your rent on time can result in your stuff in the street in 5-7 days, no muss, no fuss for the landlord. I saw it happen many times.