If my 22 year-old daughter doesn’t pay any rent/utilities, do I still need to formally evict her?
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If my 22 year-old daughter doesn’t pay any rent/utilities, do I still need to formally evict her?
I told her to be out before the end of the month.
Asked on April 2, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Technically, if she is not paying rent (including indirectly, such as by paying utilities), she is a guest, not a tenant. A guest can remain only so long as you let her, and you could revoke permission at any time. Once you revoke permission, she is technically a trespasser; at that point, if she does not leave, the police should, in theory, help remove her. However, the police often refuse to intervene, if the person has been living there for a time and claims some right to be there--they want the courts to determine the rights in that case. Therefore, if you ask her to leave and she will not, and either the police do not help you (or you do not want to call them on your daughter), speak with an attorney: you may need to bring either an eviction or an ejectment action ("ejectment" is the legal action to remove someone who is not a tenant, but does claim some right to the premises) to get her to leave.
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