I have lived with my roommate for three years, none of them happy. She is on the lease and pays her rent on time. She is an alcoholic who for the time being is trying to stop drinking. The first two years she was drunk, the last year she has been on the couch in front of the TV in our living room. She has never contributed much to the up-keep of the house we share and our ideas of what constitutes a clean home are dramatically different. I have asked her to leave twice and she refuses. When she is drinking it's not uncommon for her to leave the front door wide open or bring home druggy friends after the bars close at 2 am. (This hasn't happened in a while though.) What are my options?

Aa, if your roommate refuses to leave and is consistent with keeping up her portion of the rent, the easiest way out of this situation is for you to move yourself. There are two things that you might want to consider doing. When is your lease up for renewal? One thing you can do is: when your renewal notice arrives, start looking for places to rent on your own or with another roommate. Let your current roommate know that you are leaving. Contact your landlord and tell him/her that you will not be co-signing the lease and you will be moving as of the expiration date of your lease. Let your roommate figure out what she wants to do about her own situation with the landlord. The other thing you can do is: if you live in an apartment complex and you like it, tell the landlord that you do like the complex but you do not want to continue living with your roommate. If your lease still has a few months left on it, ask if there is another apartment in the complex that is available for you to rent. If you have been a good and responsible tenant, usually landlords are willing to work out a deal with you and will allow you out of one lease if they have another unit available for rent.

As Ruby noted, you have no grounds to evict her. As long as she is on the lease and pays her rent you are stuck with her. So you have to move or offer her some incentive to move (i.e. paying her moving expenses etc.)

No grounds for eviction: Is this because it's a lease?
I have roommates in my home and can give them an eviction notice anytime, as long as it's twenty-days before the end of the month. No leases for me; that much I have learned as a landlord.
I have a roommate now who brings females for overnight visits and the rental agreement that he signed states no overnight guests other than one's child on occasion, and that certainly does not apply in my situation (she is no child; just another alcoholic). He is also an alcoholic in "recovery" from what I'm not sure because he's often drunk - asking for mercy and grace, and so, I'm giving him my grace by evicting him so he learns there are consequences for certain behavior. By tolerating abusive and/or addictive behavior you only reinforce it and that does not help the person.
Kick them out and move them on their way. I lost my home several time before I finally got it right and quit drugs by turning to God (AA did nothing for me) and found my strength and help in time of need.
Brandy www.dotcross.org