How do I get someone out of my house?
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How do I get someone out of my house?
My brother and his girlfriend needed a place to stay. We agreed to let them stay and set up a verbal agreement to have them pay some every 2 weeks to help towards bills and food. They paid a couple of times and now haven’t paid in 2 months. They have fought and now twice she has gone back to her moms with the kids. Can I just tell them to leave or do I have to take them to court? They are not on my lease.
Asked on August 23, 2017 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You can't just through them out since they are in effect "subtenants" who have failed to pay their rent. Since you are the "sublandlord" at this point, you'll need to file an "unlawful detainer" action (i.e. eviction lawsuit). And until a court orders them to leave the premises, you cannot do anything by way of self-help measures to get them out (i.e. changing the locks, remove their belongings, etc.). Accordingly, since you have the legal right to occupy the premises, you can file an unlawful detainer action (i.e. eviction proceeding) in court. What you can do now is to consult directly with an attorney who specializes landlord-tenant cases. They can best advise of the correct way in which to go about this.
Note: If this roommate is an "official" tenant, the only way to have him legally removed from the premises is to have your landlord file for the unlawful detainer action. Having these roommates' names on a lease is not the only way that they may be considered to be a formal tenant of your landlord. In addition to being on the lease, they may have achieved the status of a tenant if your landlord accepted rent from them directly, put (or allowed them to put) their names on the mailbox/doorbell, etc.
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