Ask Me Help Desk - Is kicking her out legal?

Is kicking her out legal?

I live in Virginia and am disabled, my son that lives here allowed his friend to move in without my permission. His friend does not pay rent or put in money for anything and has lived here about 7 months and I would like her out. My son told her to be out by August, but because of a baby we need her out soon, and I am just tired of her. So because I am the owner, can I legally kick her out now?

Nope. There are dozens of threads here that anmswer that question. After 7 months, she has certainly established residency. Therefore, even if she doesn't pay rent, she has to be treated as a tenant.

If there was an agreement that she pay rent and hasn't, then you can give her a 3 day pay or quit notice. And then file for eviction in your local housing court. If there was no agreement to pay rent, then you have to give her 30 days notice to vacate before you can file for eviction. Any notice to vacate has to be in writing.

But she never had my permission as the homes owner to live here, and because I am confined to my bed I can't really do anything about getting her out. She smokes and makes my entire house smell and its making my health worse. So because she never had my permission to live here she still has rights? She doesn't get mail or anything here, she is basically a sponge sucking up all my resources.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyandreww

... can I legally kick her out now?

What does "kick her out" mean?

If you literally kick her until she is out of the building, you could be prosecuted for assault and battery.
If you ask her to leave, and she does so, problem solved.
Any other interpretation probably involves court intervention: i.e. you have to sue her.

My question would be why did you wait this long before taking action? Its too late. As scottgem said, she has established residency by now. If you were upset about it before, why did you not take action when she moved in, rather than waiting this long?

I am confined to a bed, and can't get out of it. I pay all the bills she pays nothing. No matter what I say it gets ignored. I have to have some legal rights because she never had my permission to live in my house

I think the real problem is how long she has been there before you decided you want her out... or rather before you decided you were ready to take action.

After 7 months you have to evict her legally, if you have already asked and she won't leave give her notice in writing to leave within 30 days and then find out the procedures to evict someone in your area and have her evicted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyandreww

I am confined to a bed, and can't get out of it. I pay all the bills she pays nothing. No matter what i say it gets ignored. I have to have some legal rights because she never had my permission to live in my house

You do have legal rights. You WILL get her evicted, you just need to go through the legal process. Your main problem is, by letting her stay so long, she was able to establish residency.

How did she establish residency? She doesn't get her mail here and her license is not for my address, I would think that means she is a resident where her license is or where her mail goes too... and I can't wait 30 days for her to be gone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyandreww

How did she establish residency? She doesnt get her mail here and her license is not for my adress, i would think that means she is a resident where her license is or where her mail goes too...and i can't wait 30 days for her to be gone.

She has lived there for 7 months. I assume she has possessions there. You can try telling her to get out, but if she refuses you can't forcibly remove her. If you do, you will open yourself up to a lawsuit for illegal eviction. If you forcibly remove her or change the locks, she comes back with the police and shows them that she has possessions there and you are screwed.

Sorry, she had "your" permission by default.
1. your son who is a resident there allowed her to come in. ** can I assume his past girlfriend maybe?? But once he allowed her in he has the right to do this since he lives there.

2. once she was there ( first day) you did not "kick her out then" so you accepted her as a resident there.

3. If this was 2 or 3 days, even a week, you may have a defense but after 7 months, she had your permission to be there because you allowed her to be there.

You will have to give her notice, and if she does not move, file for a formal eviction in court.

Just to let all know, I called my police department tonight, and I can legally ask her to leave with no notice what so ever and she has to leave or I can get the police to escort her out of my house for trespassing.

What state do you live in?
I have yet to hear of a state that does that other than I think New Jersey?

In my state all you have to do is spend the night and you can be called a resident and they have to go through the formal eviction procedure.

Well after you do evict her illegally, ** the police making this error does not make it legal.

She can sue not only you and perhaps end up owning your home and sue the police for illegal action.

Sorry but no, you either talked to the most stupid police officer on earth, or they do illegal things in your town.

Or did not tell them the entire story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyandreww

Just to let all know, I called my police department tonight, and i can legally ask her to leave with no notice what so ever and she has to leave or i can get the police to escort her out of my house for trespassing.

You can legally ask her to leave at any time, but you can't enforce it. I don't know what police officer told you that, but, unless you live in a VERY small town, you were given bum advice. Try researching your state's landlord/tenant laws to get the true facts.

Police do NOT get involved in Civil disputes and this is a civil dispute. No criminal laws have been broken (yet). So the police will not get involved.

There was a new law passed in virginia recently dealing with this. More than one officer told us that if we told her to leave that night she had to or that they would come get her that night

I'm really curious about this law now. Can you cite it from anywhere? Or is that just what you've heard?

I didn't see anything saying that on the internet.

Here is what I found. LIS > Code of Virginia > 55-248.46
I would be asking the police to tell me where I could find a copy of the new law.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyandreww

there was a new law passed in virginia recently dealing with this. more than one officer told us that if we told her to leave that night she had to or that they would come get her that night

I cannot believe VA law would allow anyone to kick someone out of their residence without court action. You need to go back to these cops you spoke to and ask them to give you chapter and section of this law so you can review it. It should be in Title 55, Chapter 13. Everything I read in that area (LIS > Code of Virginia) indicates that the landlord MUST go through the Unlawful Detainer process to remove the tenant.