Providence: Is it legal to relocate my roommate's things to another room in our house?
Was told to update with location: Providence, RI.
Hi everyone. Bit of a convoluted story here: My girlfriend has been living in her house for a year now. One of her roommates (let's say Kate) moved out on Monday. I am moving in with my girlfriend, and we are taking Kate's old room. It's the same size as my girlfriend's old room, but a bit more secluded in the house and right off the kitchen. She gets up early so it is convenient. Moreover, the "rotation" of rooms in the house progresses as I've described: whomever is in the house longest gets priority on Kate's old room.
While we were at work yesterday our other roommate (Julie) snuck her stuff into our room. Julie is moving out of the house in 1 to 2 months. She has been living in the third room in the house for about 8 months. She told my girlfriend that she wanted to move into Kate's room about a month ago via text, but my girlfriend told her no because 1.) my girlfriend has been in the house longer, 2.) Julie is moving out soon and we are staying long term, and 3.) she can have my girlfriend's old room, which is brighter and (maybe) a bit bigger than Julie's room.
We both confronted Julie about what she did and she simply refuses to listen to us or discuss it at all. My girlfriend and she were supposed to talk about the rooms but they never got around to it. Julie is VERY reclusive and often walks away from conversations regarding utilities and rent (literally just turns her back and walks away); plus, she is constantly slow on paying bills, meaning my girlfriend often covers the cost until she eventually pays. Julie is outright ignoring us and refusing to move her stuff out of our room. She says she doesn't understand why we can't wait until she moves out; we likewise can't understand why she doesn't just stay put until she leaves. We can't wait for her because we don't even know WHEN she is moving out, plus we have plans to paint the room, and we also need to see about renting Julie's room out when she leaves. She says that she has been paying the same amount as my girlfriend and Kate for as long as she's been here, so now she deserves the better room (NB the room is the same size as her old room, albeit brighter). Apparently she has been harboring this dissatisfaction since she moved in, even though she agreed on splitting the rent three ways when she moved in 8 months ago.
We gave her an ultimatum yesterday saying that if she didn't move her stuff out by today, then we would do it for her. As such, when she leaves for work this afternoon I will be removing her things and replacing them in my girlfriend's old room, and moving our stuff into our new bedroom. This way Julie still has an "upgraded" room and we get the bedroom we intend to stay in for the next year or more. I've already gone down to the police station and informed them of my plans. They told me to contact the landlord (none of us are on the lease; my girlfriend has never seen him in the year she's lived here) and gave me the number of an officer who can come by when I make the move to "keep the peace". I'd like to wait until I get the go-ahead from the landlord, but as none of us are on the lease I don't think he really cares about a minor territorial dispute. Thus I will likely begin moving her stuff and call the officer so he is aware. I expect that there will be plenty of shouting when she comes home from work tonight around 1.30AM, but we are prepared to confront her then. We are planning on replacing the doorknob so we can lock our stuff in the room after moving in.
Anyway, I just want to ask: are we in the clear here? The police said we weren't breaking the law (not doing any harm and no thieving) so they can't react as if we were; but I still want to be sure that we are legally in the clear.
I've had terrible knots in my stomach all day waiting for her to leave. I really don't want to do this, but she has given us no choice and refuses to see reason or even discuss her actions with us. I should mention she is ten years older than my girlfriend and I (we're in our mid-20s); but she is acting in a passive aggressive manner befitting a teenager who won't take responsibility for her actions.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted Aug 17, 2016, 6:34 PM UTC
You will not be committing a crime by moving her belongings from one room to another, no. If you damage them, you're responsible for those damages. And you'd have a very difficult time making a showing that you didn't steal/lose/damage anything that you move if she accuses you of that.
In that case should I request an officer be present with me during the move so that he can document everything?
You can request it, but I very much doubt the police will be eager to do that for you.
Alright thanks. The lady at the precinct told me to call and implied that an officer could stop over. She might have been referring to later tonight when the roommate returns home from work.
For security, sure. But to oversee an entire move and act as a witness or document what you're doing the entire time, I doubt it.