I have a roommate which I've given a 30 day notice in writing to terminate the lease agreement (I've posted on the door and had a witness sign it who viewed me posting it to the front of the door since the roommate and I don't get along and my fiancé an I want to live alone and start a family.

And the roommate refuses to honor the 30 day notice stating that I have no right to evict him and by law he does not have to leave until he finds another place. So my question, is... is this true? I'm a bit confused because of the roomer vs tenant laws in California but at the same time, I'm not sure that the "roomer" situation would apply since my fiancé also pays rent (we split the cost of the room) to me and/or my parents. Since it's a grey area for me (all documents are signed by both myself and my parents and I'm actually going to see them this weekend so I can finally clear all this up on the basis of ownership of the home).

So my question is: Am I stuck with this roommate until they decide to leave? It's a bit of a grey area because I'm not sure if I'm on the title of the home as a partial owner or if it's just my parents name that is on the title, even if my parents have said that I now own the house, verbally. I know it's really confusing so just to clarify my questions again:

1. If I don't own the house and we all rent from my parents, what processes shall I take to terminate the lease and evict the roommate if he refuses to leave? I've already serviced him the 30 day notice with my parents signature, as well as my own and a witness.

2. If I own the house because both myself and my parents are on the title, what are my options to have the guy move out in 30 days? Would he be considered a roomer by law (since I live in the home) or a tenant? I'm confused since CA law dictates that a roomer situation exists only if you have just 1 individual paying rent. But since the roommate pays rent, I pay rent, and my fiancé pays rent where does my situation stand?

Sincerely,

Extremely Confused.

Additional Background info on the terms of lease and home owner:

*Originally it was a 6 month lease which continued on to a month-to-month basis.

*My family owns the home, but state that I should consider the home mine as they moved to another location. (So I don't know if I'm on the title of the home or not ).

* I have 2 roommates in the house. One is my fiancé who lives in the room with me and the other one is his friend's cousin's co-worker.

*I reside in the state of California in Santa Clara County.

Thanks so much for any help regarding this matter. I really really appreciate it.

Lets get this straight, the roommate signed a lease over 6 months ago and its been continued on a month to month basis. The only question is who signed the lease and whether they had a right to enter into a lease.

As long as the lease was entered into legally, then they have to abide by the terms of that lease (assuming those terms don't violate CA laws). If the lease says 30 day notice then 30 days it is. However, to actually get them out, if they won''t move, you will have to go through eviction proceedings.

It really doesn't matter who actually owns the house as long as the person who signed the lease was acting as an authorized agent for the owner.

And following up on Scotts great advice, sadly because I am a great slum lord in our area, I often rent to people who are not the best tennants in the world.

I give them their notice and of course they laugh at me and don't move, knowing that I have to go to court and file for an eviction and have them served by the court, and have a hearing, and then they will have a specific time to leave, And they live in my house rent free while all of this is going on.

So you have to coninue with the eviction procedure, ( and as stated who ever is the person listed as the owner on the lease should be the one to serve them with notice and to follow-up with the court.