Evicting a Roommate

[MCSE]

My jurisdiction is: New York City

I live in NY and have a roommate in my apartment that hasn't been paying rent for for long time now. I never had him sign a lease, never paid me with checks (always in cash), and he does not recieve any correspondance at that address. My questions is, can I give him a 10 day notice? Can legally evict him? Can I legally change the locks? I don't want to throw his things out to hallway for the may get stolen, but can I call the police so that they can be present when he comes to pick up his belongings?

Thank you for your professional advice.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

I'm assuming the setup you had with the roommate is that he paid you his portion of the rent and you paid the landlord, correct?

Gail

 

[MCSE]

yes, that is correct.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Then yes, you can file for an eviction on this roommate.

There are certain steps you must go through to do this. These are the ones outlined for New York City...

http://www.rentlaw.com/eviction/newyorkeviction.htm

You cannot change the locks until the court had granted your request for an eviction (this is usually not a difficult process when the reason for the eviction is nonpayment of rent). Once the eviction is granted, law enforcement will set up a time to be present so that the eviction can be carried out and locks changed. As you can imagine, some evictions can become quite emotionally charged and law enforcement needs to be present to make sure things do not get out of hand.

Once this is complete...and if you make sure you have your roommates new address, you can then sue him (typically in Small Claims Court) for the rent he has not paid you in the past.

Gail

 

[MCSE]

Thanks Gail