Source
r/legaladvice•
tchitty1

Friends won't leave my house..

GA. So, we let two of my friends stay with us at the house we are renting because they needed a place to stay and we had an extra room. They have paid a portion of rent/utilities sporadically, but never regularly, as they are pretty crap with money. Our lease is up at the end of the month and we were supposed to return keys tomorrow, but these guys haven't figured out a place to go yet, despite months of notice. How can I get them out? Is just kicking them out and trashing their stuff legal? Should I get the police involved? Please help!

Posted Dec 27, 2018, 8:02 PM UTC

814
SparklyUnicornLady•

Just kicking them out and trashing their stuff is definitely not legal.

How long have they been living in your home? Have you given them any written notice to vacate?

8
tchitty1OP•

Around 8 months. The only written notice I have is a text from around 3 weeks ago telling them the date utilities were getting shut off and that needed to be out before that.

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SparklyUnicornLady•

How much notice did you give them to leave? 30 days?

Once they stay beyond the date you told them, you can start the eviction process.

If your tenants are still in the home after your move out date, you should expect your landlord to start eviction proceedings against you as well. You may want to consider making them a cash offer to be out by a certain date.

6
shadowofashadow•

I wonder if OP leaves will the friends be seen as squatters or would the landlord be able to actually go after OP for not leaving?

5
SparklyUnicornLady•

I don’t practice landlord tenant law, but my understanding is that friends are not squatters since they are overstaying a once legal tenancy.

I most certainly think that OP will face eviction proceedings if he can’t get his friends out, which I why I think offering cash an an incentive to meet the move out deadline is his best option.

3
tchitty1OP•

So, even if they aren't on the lease, and I don't own the property, I have shot myself in the foot by not having anything from at least 30 days ago written down, and now pretty much have to face eviction proceedings from the rental company if I cannot get them to willingly gtfo. This was what I feared. Can I at least sue them for any incurred fees/ >1000 dollars in rent they owe me? Imma guess not having a written contract is gonna screw that up too.

2
EchinusRosso•

That contracts a little easier to navigate. Many states have requirements on how notice to vacate must be served, but a lease only requires a verbal contract. It's impossible to say what you may or may not be able to recover, but any texts you have confirming a verbal lease would work in your favor.

2
chevyfried•

You can tell them to leave, they can not leave in which case they will need to be evicted. Find some new friends...

6
tchitty1OP•

The sad thing is that they were 2/3 groomsmen for my wedding...

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shadowofashadow•

Well you better hope they don't stick around or the landlord is coming after you. They may be considered squatters but I guarantee the landlord is going to try and hold you liable. It might be cheaper for you to pay them a few hundred bucks to leave and avoid any potential headache.

5
cliftonixs•

IANAL but I had this exact same thing happen to my previous room mates. The way I handled it was I gave them notice just like you did. About 30days worth. I told them I couldn't afford rent and schedule a final walk-through with the owner on x day. I told them that if they wanted to keep staying at the place, they could transfer their names onto the lease I had and continue with paying all of the utilities, rent, etc.. (I'd also said that I would remove my name from the lease so it would be fully in their names and be their responsibility) When the day came, i told them the landlord is coming over and has a lease drafted up for you guys to sign when he gets here. Within the hour they got all their stuff out and found places because they couldn't afford the rent let alone qualify to live there. Funny how that all worked out. Something about them having to face the owner all of a sudden sparked them to move, perhaps they didn't want third names on the contract or to mess with the person who can legally evict them. Ever since that day I haven't heard a word from then since.

5
WeaselWeaz•

What have they actually said about leaving? Not figuring something out is not the same as refusing to leave.

2
tchitty1OP•

They haven't refused to leave, they are just irresponsible and didn't start looking for a place to go until about a week ago. I made this thread more to see what my options are when I go down there today. Last night they just blamed each other for everything (they are a couple) and tried to guilt me into talking to the landlord to give them more time, I said no, they got passive aggressive, and thats pretty much where we're at..

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[deleted]•

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