"Former" resident moved out four days ago, last night he broke back in through his bedroom window but the cops won't arrest him - Florida
Location: Hillsborough County, Florida.
For clarity, this is a house where the owner rents multiple rooms by the week, and does not always write up a lease for every tenant unless they become a long term resident. I am the only person in the house with an actual lease, all utilities are in my name, and am registered with the county including my state ID being registered to this address for 2+ years. There are 2 other residents renting their rooms weekly, who also do not have a formal lease. The man in question has been living here for about six weeks, and was asked to move out because he was on drugs, behaving erratically, inviting multiple guests at a time over to do drugs with him and stay over night in empty rooms that are supposed to be kept clean and rentable (they were paying him in drugs to "rent" the rooms), and both he and his guests were stealing food and personal items from the other residents.
He agreed to move out, the landlord was even nice enough to give him back his most recent rent despite it already being due again soon (6th of 7th day). He removed all his belongings from the house, though what he couldn't carry was moved to a shed in the back yard that he was welcome to pick them up from when it was convenient.
Keeping in mind he NEVER had a lease, was never officially a tenant, he does not have keys, and he wrote up dated and signed a document for the landlord saying he was leaving of his own free will.
Something happened, and wherever he had planned to move apparently fell through. So in the middle of the night he decided to walk back into the house through the unlocked back door four days after moving out. Last night as I went to lock up for the night, I found him sleeping in the room next to his former room on the floor, and threw him out of the house. Locked all the doors and windows again, and went to bed. This morning, I found him asleep again in his old room having broken in through a window, and rather than wake him up I called the police. The Sheriff showed up and told me that they cannot do anything about this man breaking into the house because he "lives here" until the landlord evicts him. Despite the document, despite the returned rent, despite breaking in through a window, and the official resident of the house telling them that he moved out with all his belongings several days prior and was not welcome anymore by anyone currently living here or the landlord. They flatly refused to do anything. So, my question is, what can we legally do to get this guy removed from the house. Do we have to go through the eviction process for someone who doesn't even have a lease and keeps breaking in through a window? Is he considered a squatter? When he inevitably gets high and starts tweaking out in the living room again, can I call the cops? What are the people who actually live here supposed to do in this situation?
Posted Jul 1, 2025, 4:27 PM UTC