Three months ago I let my niece move into my home (my name is on the deed) until she could
Get back up on her feet.
Ever since she has been here she has made no attempt to help herself or her 4 year old daughter.
She lets her animals urinate and other things all over my home and all the money she does happen
To come across goes on drugs.
About a week ago I told her I was giving her two months to get out of my house and she just laughed
And told me I can't get her out of my home and she was not leaving.. on her own anyway.
She has never paid me a single dime.. except she does buy food with her food stamps and she told
Me that is her rent money? I don't eat her food.
I am also disabled, in a wheelchair due to amputations so I live on a very limited income.
What is it going to take to get her out of my home before it is completely destroyed?
Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area. Did you give her this notice in writing? If not, you may not have to wait 2 months. She would be considered a month to month tenant which usually needs 30 day notice, sometimes less. But we need to know where you are to check the law.

You can then give her a written notice to vacate. If she refuses to vacate by the deadline, the next day, you go to the local housing court and file for an eviction order. There will probably be a hearing at which time an eviction order will be issued. If she still refuses to vacate, you hire a sheriff to physically remove her.

Ordinarily you would tell us what state you are in and people would look up your procedure for eviction, but with you physically disabled and she doing drugs, I would say that you could call the non emergency police line and ask to talk to an officer, and call social services, because she is endangering her child. Find out if any shelters near you have room.
All this could lead you back to a need to evict, however, if neither police nor SS think the situation warrants their action. Either one might be willing to help you start the eviction.
Sometimes just having an officer come out to the house and advise someone to leave before they get in serious trouble works. We aren't there to see her drug use, how negligent she is as a mother, or how much of a health hazard the pets are. But she may have used up all her relatives and friends, and that's why she told you she won't leave 'on her own.'

(I was still typing when ScottGem answered. Not trying to contradict. Please tell us your state. I'm looking at this from a slightly different angle given your limited ability to get around.)

Colorado requires that a signed notice to vacate the premises be posted in a conspicuous place. Three full days after that, you can start eviction. Just to be on the safe side, I would also follow the 'roommate' law that requires an additional copy be sent to the person. I would send it certified mail.

Colorado won't allow you to lock the door or put possessions outside (no state does that I know of). Yes, you can be sued.

When deadbeat family members become 'tenants' under the law, naturally it is tough to feel that you have to follow the law for landlords. That is one reason to consider a somewhat non emergency involvement of the police and SS, who given your condition and the situation with a child at possible risk, may be willing to help you hasten the process.

I thought about the possibility of calling the police and having her being arrested for drug use and endangering her child and you. I meant to add something along those lines, then got distracted.

I still think we need to know whether you gave her notice an writing and what the minimum notice is for your area. You still should give her such notice immediately. Then you can pursue the police angle to see if that will get her removed quicker.

Hi there,
Sorry.. I thought about leaving my state but did not. I am in Colorado.. if that helps?

I did not put it in writing. I just verbally told her she had two months.. but that is when she sneered and said she was not going and there is nothing I can do.
How can she be considered month to month when she has never paid me a single red cent?
And going to court is not my best option because of my financial situation but if that is my only
Choice then I guess that is what I will have to do.
What would happen if I just removed her belongings and put them outside and just refuse to unlock
My door when she returns here? Could I be arrested? Sued?
Thanks in advance. You all are great to take your time to reply.

...
What would happen if I just removed her belongings and put them outside and just refuse to unlock my door when she returns here? Could I be arrested? Sued? ...

You could not be arrested unless doing so is a crime. I don't think it is a crime.


Colorado won't allow you to lock the door or put possessions outside (no state does that I know of). Yes, you can be sued.
...

That has been a source of continuing disagreement on this forum. There are some that insist that it works like this:

If you somehow allow the person(s) to establish residence in the home they obtain rights under the landlord-tenant act (whether or not they are "tenants" as defined in such act); therfore must go to court to evict them; and cannot lock them out or take other self-help measures.
I have yet to see a reference to a specific statute or to specific case law that substantiates this view. Furthermore, I continue to be curious how an ousted houseguest would establish damages. In other words, yes, anyone can sue anyone, but whether they can prevail is quite another question.

With respect to Colorado in particular, I would like to see the statute &/ or case which Joypulv relies upon for the premise that OP can be (sucessfully) sued for locking out her houseguest.

I read RentLaw.com, Colorado 'The Colorado landlord may not lock the tenant out of the premises, shut off the utilities or forcibly move the tenant or his/her possessions out of the building.' (It goes on further down to say that if a tenant is locked out, he should not break in, but should 'seek legal advice.'

Rentlaw could be wrong of course.

I didn't say that the niece would win; she can certainly sue. She has been there a while and does has some sort of loose arrangement about food stamps. She to my mind is in a gray area between guest and tenant and seems to have made a veiled promise of action if ousted. I thought it would be wise to respond the way I did.

I have been both a tenant and a landlord and been on both sides of disputes. The law may be law but it's rarely cut and dry in this biz.

Also, I couldn't find anything about the guest to tenant transition in CO, but I did find a case in CA on Lawyers.com, in which the police showed up with a man whom the woman had locked out after he failed to pay rent for a few months, and she was told by the police that 'he had every right to be there.' CA is definitely not like most other states so I didn't mention it until now.

A lawyer's response was that there are differing interpretations of this all across the states and within, but that 'establishing residency' by such things as getting mail delivered to an address make one a tenant often times in the eyes of the courts. This is something I have run into many times.

That has been a source of continuing disagreement on this forum.

No, this has been a source of YOUR disagreement. Everyone else seems to agree that once a person has established residency they have to be legally evicted.

To embrisa,

No you wouldn't be arrested if you lock her out, but you could be sued for an illegal eviction.

This site gives you some of the applicable law:
Colorado Termination of Lease for Periodic Tenancy Law - Lease - Landlord Tenant (http://landlordtenant.uslegal.com/lease/colorado-termination-of-lease-for-periodic-tenancy-law/)

The reason she is considered month to month is because she has established your home as her place of residence. It does not require a written agreement or paying rent to be considered a resident. It simply needs to be demonstrated that the property is her primary place of residence.

According to the law as noted on the site I linked to, since she has lived there for more than one month but less than 6 you can give her a 10 day notice (not 3, that would be if she didn't pay rent that was agreed to). But once the 10 days has expired you will have to go to court for an eviction if she refuses to leave. Maybe if you show her your determination she will realize that she will be forced to leave. There is also some mention on that site about illegal activities that may help you.

AK, when embrisa locks her niece out of the house, what are you proposing she do with the 4 year old?
Toss out and endanger, or keep and kidnap?
Then there's the animals... they are just property, but property that can go bite a neighbor.

... The reason she is considered month to month is because she has established your home as her place of residence. It does not require a written agreement or paying rent to be considered a resident. It simply needs to be demonstrated that the property is her primary place of residence. ...

That definition of tenant is not the law. Look at the statute:

Colorado Statute 38.12.505 "(6) 'Tenant' means a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others."


AK, when embrisa locks her niece out of the house, what are you proposing she do with the 4 year old?
Toss out and endanger, or keep and kidnap?
Then there's the animals... they are just property, but property that can go bite a neighbor.

Is the unwelcome houseguest leaving her brat with the OP every time? Tell her to take her child with her. And if she doesn't, call CPS. As for the pets: call animal control.