Roomate Can I evict a roommate who is not on the lease?

[asegall]

I let a man and his children move into a room in the house I am renting. I have verbal permission from my landlord that I can sub-let a room to help me cover the rent. The man has paid me one time and it is now time for he and his family to move out but he refuses to leave. We cannot continue living like this. I have nothing written between the two of us. He also has his travel trailer parked in my drive way. I was told that because he has been here for longer than 30 days, he has established residency and the only way to get him out is through formal eviction. What are the specific steps I need to do and in what order to process this and how long will it take?

 

[army judge]

I let a man and his children move into a room in the house I am renting. I have verbal permission from my landlord that I can sub-let a room to help me cover the rent. The man has paid me one time and it is now time for he and his family to move out but he refuses to leave. We cannot continue living like this. I have nothing written between the two of us. He also has his travel trailer parked in my drive way. I was told that because he has been here for longer than 30 days, he has established residency and the only way to get him out is through formal eviction. What are the specific steps I need to do and in what order to process this and how long will it take?

Google eviction YOUR COUNTY, CA.

You can't evict someone, only a court can evict anyone, and a law enforcement official will carry out the eviction.

Its off to court for the eviction.

Don't be surprised, as I think you have to ask him to leave (using a letter to vacate), and it can be as much as 60 days before you can formally file to evict.

If you live in a rent control city, it takes even longer!

Here's a discussion of the process. You want it for your county:



http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/evictions.shtml



http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-eviction.htm

In your state, if you're lucky, it'll take 10-12 weeks, often more to evict someone.

Once you get him out, don't do this again.

The only people that rent rooms in apartments or homes are people with bad credit, no money, and no job!

You have only yourself to blame.

 

[mightymoose]

Either you or the landlord can evict him. Your landlord may be able to help you with it, but don't be surprised if the hassle means the end of subletting, and maybe even the end of your tenancy if you can't afford the place on your own.

You will have to ask an attorney if you can speed things up with the lodger law (Penal Code 602.3). This law is intended to help remove a single tenant from an owner occupied residence. You are not the owner, but you have the same role in this scenario with a subtenant. I don't believe the man's children count as tenants (if they are under 18), so he would be a single tenant. If these terms do apply then you could have him out in less than a month. Even if they don't apply, some creativity on your part might persuade him to move along faster.

 

[mightymoose]

The only people that rent rooms in apartments or homes are people with bad credit, no money, and no job!

Not all.
I have on occasion rented a room in my home to military members (I am near a base). They are sometimes in the area for short periods of time without their families and long term leases aren't realistic. I am able to offers something much more convenient than temporary base housing.
Not only do they have a steady source of income, but if something were to ever go wrong a couple well placed phone calls would correct it faster than any court ever would
Anyway, one must be very careful and selective, but they aren't all deadbeats. I'm sure there are others out there that are not military that have similar temporary needs. I would never rent to someone that wasn't military though... I need that advantage of having a commanding officer to call. Or even better, the commanding officer's commanding officer.

 

[shrinkmaster]

Who did the tenant pay rent to, you or landlord? Your answer makes a difference

 

[army judge]

Not all.
I have on occasion rented a room in my home to military members (I am near a base). They are sometimes in the area for short periods of time without their families and long term leases aren't realistic. I am able to offers something much more convenient than temporary base housing.
Not only do they have a steady source of income, but if something were to ever go wrong a couple well placed phone calls would correct it faster than any court ever would
Anyway, one must be very careful and selective, but they aren't all deadbeats. I'm sure there are others out there that are not military that have similar temporary needs. I would never rent to someone that wasn't military though... I need that advantage of having a commanding officer to call. Or even better, the commanding officer's commanding officer.

As one who served 30 years in the military, I can assure all personnel on TDY receive a very allotment to compensate them during such short tours.
I can also assure the military discourages rooming situations for many reasons.

That aside, there are hotels for short term stays or boarding houses.

I'll stand by statement, positive exceptions aside, as evidenced by number of posts we get asking how to evict the "boarder" from Hades.

 

[mightymoose]

Who did the tenant pay rent to, you or landlord? Your answer makes a difference

OP indicates he/she collected payment one time only. OP is subletting and has same authority as landlord over the subtenant.
Even if rent was paid directly to the landlord the OP, having permission, could still act as the landlord's agent.

 

[shrinkmaster]

Ok then it appears OP may exercise his rights to remove tenant. You first step it removing a non paying tenant is a 3 day pay or quit notice. Have you done that? If not you need to ASAP as this is first step

 

[mightymoose]

Process is slightly different if the lodger law applies. It is worth looking in to as it is much faster and effective... and costs way less.