My roommate has slept on my front room couch(I only have 2 rooms) for more than a year. I expected that he would at least help out with the rent & bills(water,gas,elec,cable), but anytime I even mentioned it he would start yelling, and many times throwing things around(broke my PC monitor & other similar items). A couple of times he would start pushing me and even threatened me with a knife. He refuses to leave and dares me to do anything. Can you help?

You have allowed him to qualify as a resident. Therefore you have to formally evict him. Since there is no lease, you can give him 30 days written notice to vacate. If he refuses, you will then have to go to housing court for an eviction order.

However, if he gets violent, you then call the police and ask for a restraining order against him. This will effectively evict him.

Have you called the police and asked for him to be arreested for assault and battery with a deadly weapon?? This would be a good step in addition to Scott's correct advice

TO: ScottGem & ballengerb1: You guys are great. Thanks a million for getting back to me so quickly. I will proceed with the 30 day notice ASAP and, if as expected, will start legal proceedings when he doesn't leave. While I realize that notifying the police would probably be smart, I think I will leave that step off for now. However, if any more violence occurs, they're in. Finally, isn't it possible in California to do a lot of the eviction process yourself; i.e. no lawyer?