Short answer. There is a faster process. Rule 70, Section 3 puts all forcible entry and unlawful detainer actions under summary procedure regardless of the amount of damages or unpaid rentals sought, except cases covered by agricultural tenancy laws or where the law expressly provides otherwise, so ejectment does not follow the slower, ordinary civil-procedure track.
What the law says
Except in cases covered by the agricultural tenancy laws or when the law otherwise expressly provides, all actions for forcible entry and unlawful detainer, irrespective of the amount of damages or unpaid rentals sought to be recovered, shall be governed by the summary procedure hereunder provided.
Rule 70, Section 3 — Summary procedure. Read the full provision →
Summary procedure is the default
Forcible entry and unlawful detainer cases are not left to proceed under the ordinary rules of civil procedure by default; they are governed by the summary procedure set out under this Rule, reflecting the law's concern that disputes over possession be resolved quickly rather than dragged out. Possession disputes tend to fester the longer they remain unresolved, so the Rule builds in a faster track from the very start of the case rather than leaving parties to the ordinary pace of civil litigation, with shortened deadlines and a preference for affidavits over prolonged hearings running throughout the Rule.
The amount involved does not matter
This summary track applies irrespective of the amount of damages or unpaid rentals sought to be recovered. A case involving a small unpaid rental amount and one involving a much larger sum are both processed under the same summary procedure, since the concern is possession, not the size of the money claim. This is a deliberate contrast with ordinary civil actions, where the amount involved can determine which court has jurisdiction or which procedural track applies — ejectment strips that variable out entirely. A landlord seeking a large sum of back rent alongside possession cannot avoid summary procedure by pointing to the size of the monetary claim.
The two carve-outs
The rule does recognize exceptions: cases covered by the agricultural tenancy laws are excluded, and so are cases where the law otherwise expressly provides a different procedure. Outside those two situations, summary procedure is the governing track for every forcible entry and unlawful detainer action. Agricultural tenancy disputes are carved out because they involve their own specialized statutory framework and adjudicating bodies, so folding them into ordinary ejectment's summary procedure would sidestep that separate system rather than complement it. The law-otherwise-expressly-provides carve-out likewise leaves room for future or existing special statutes to displace summary procedure for particular categories of possession disputes without requiring an amendment to this Rule itself.
Related provisions
- Rule 70, Section 3 — Summary procedure
- Rule 70, Section 4 — Pleadings allowed
- Rule 70, Section 5 — Action on complaint