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View Full Version : Can my roommate give me only 7 days to leave?


srhughes
Oct 28, 2009, 11:30 AM
Several months ago I moved into an apartment with a friend of mine. She is on the lease but I am not. I have paid her a monthly rent on time for the several months that I have been there. A few days ago her boyfriend brought over a friend who stole several items from me and when I approached my roommate and her boyfriend about it they told me to move out. I decided that I would move out of town in about 4 weeks. Several days later (today) my roommate handed me a piece of paper that she had typed and had notarized stating that I have 7 days to move out of her apartment. Can she do that and do I have to move out in 7 days? Right now I have nowhere else to go.

justcurious55
Oct 28, 2009, 11:38 AM
What state do you live in?

srhughes
Oct 28, 2009, 11:47 AM
Oklahoma City, OK. Sorry I thought I had put that in.

stevetcg
Oct 29, 2009, 11:30 AM
7 days seems fast. And that piece of paper is simply a formality prior to her being able to go to court to file for a legal eviction.

The laws I can find says that its 30 days notice.

recordhound
Nov 15, 2009, 01:40 PM
The OP said she is NOT on the lease, and that she pays her part of the rent to her girlfriend who IS on the lease. I would think this is a case of "subletting" and is probably a violation of the lease, for which they can all be evicted. And she (OP) can be "asked" to leave at any time. My son had this happen to him.

justcurious55
Nov 15, 2009, 03:55 PM
Asked to leave and made to leave are different. The OP never said whether their friend was allowed to sublet. Since that was never mentioned by the OP, I don't know why you're bringing it up. There are leases that do allow subletting. But unless the tenancy is less than month to month, 30 days notice must be given. 7 is if it's less than month to month. Just because you're not on the lease doesn't mean that you are not a tenant.

http://www.ok.gov/OREC/documents/Landlord%20and%20Tenant%20Act%20Update.pdf

recordhound
Nov 15, 2009, 08:53 PM
asked to leave and made to leave are different. the OP never said whether or not their friend was allowed to sublet. since that was never mentioned by the OP, i don't know why you're bringing it up. there are leases that do allow subletting. but unless the tenancy is less than month to month, 30 days notice must be given. 7 is if it's less than month to month. just because you're not on the lease doesn't mean that you are not a tenant.

http://www.ok.gov/OREC/documents/Landlord%20and%20Tenant%20Act%20Update.pdf

Perhaps. However, on all of our leases we specifically list every person who will be living there, prohibit subletting, and have never had a problem. Any law that states that anyone living there can be considered a tenant is plain silly. In fact, neither myself or my business partner have heard of such a thing. If they are not on the lease, they are "guests". This keeps properties from becoming flophouses.

This policy would leave the landlord open to a lawsuit if anything happens. What if a 2 br property is rented to a mother and her two small children, and now we have a boyfriend, his friend, and two more kids on a foldout sofa. A legal nightmare, in many ways. Just think of the possibilities. Not pretty.

justcurious55
Nov 15, 2009, 09:16 PM
I agree. But we've had many people on here that have come asking "i told my friend they could stay with me for x amount of time. i want them out now, they won't leave and i'm being told i can't make them because they're a tenant!" I don't know about every state, but at least in many establishing tenancy can be as simple as moving your things in, getting mail there, and you only have to stay a few weeks or month in the place. And then if the owner wants you out, they have to give you notice and then if you still don't leave they have to file for an eviction. It is a legal nightmare for many but I believe (and I may just be being optomistic here) that the laws are the way they are exactly to protect someone like the OP. someone who was told, "yes, you can stay here" from being kicked to the curb with no time to find someplace else to stay.

Fr_Chuck
Nov 15, 2009, 09:49 PM
Sorry, a guest is not a guest once they have estabished residence, by paying rent to even another tenant as a sub renter, they have established their residence.

After that if it is a illegal rent, not allowed in the original lease, the landlord, not a tenant has to evict them.

In the end, legal rental or not, they have lived there and established their residnece and will have to be evicted though the courts.

I would suggest recordhound you take some real estate clases since if you and your partner are merely throwing people like this out, you are very lucky they have not sued you and end up owning the houses.