Ask Me Help Desk - Roommate who not pay and avoids us.

My fiancé and I have a roommate who hasn't paid rent for this month. She is in her room most of the time and when we knock on her door to give her the 3 day notice she doesn't answer. We could hear her in there on the phone or watching t.v. We have had the police come to our house while we were away because her boyfriend hit her. We have asked to not bring him over but she continues to sneak him in at night. She has avoided us since the incident and leaves while we are asleep or eating dinner. She practically runs out the door. She is messy and leaves the bathroom toilet unflushed. We have been patient and want her out. Its messed up that the tenant knows more than us and she gets away with living in our home for free. What can we do?

Prepare a written notice and tape it to her door and slip one under the door. If she doesn't comply, change the locks after the expiration period. When she contacvts you for her things, make an appointment when she can come and clean out.

Yes - slip the notice under the door and tape a copy to the front door. Apparently she has "some" shame so you need to press the issue of her owing money or moving out.

It also depends on how long she has resided with you.. in Michigan, if the resident has resided for over a two month period and it lists your address on her Drivers License, you may need to go to the local District Courthouse and pursue eviction proceedings... it gives her a specified time to pay up or leave... Do you have a written lease? You didn't indicate that... if so, I hope you included late fee's on rent. I'm a bit leery on the idea of changing the locks... she can bring the police and demand entrance if she has resided there a specific amount of time.. and then they'll tell you to take it up in Civil Court... I know it's a pain in the butt, I learned the hard way... check into your state laws on tenant/landlord laws. Eventually, you'll be able to reclaim your room. Hope this helps!

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Originally Posted by jean48329

It also depends on how long she has resided with you

Checking state laws is good advice. But I assumed that the OP had done that because of her mention of "the 3 day notice". That why I mentioned changing the locks AFTER the expiration period. I agree that changing the locks should only be done once the eviction is official depending on local laws.

There's no written lease its just a month to month rental verbal agreement. She won't answer her door still and the sheriff dept said we can post it on her door and mail her a copy of the 3 day notice. We live in California so I don't know if its legal to change the locks on her, but my fiancé is tempted to do it. She brings different guys to our house and had access to the alarm system but I erased her code. I don't trust her with bringing these guys to our home. She's very sneaky. I know that her licensed expired but I don't know if she renewed it yet because she doesn't drive her car. She doesn't have the key to the mail box and I always but her mail under her door. I did tell her verbally that she needed to be out by the 10th of this month and she agreed. She wrote me a note stating that she would be out by the 10th and she is still here living rent free.

You need to double check CA law about whether you can change the locks. You will probably need to file a formal eviction proceeding and serve her the paperwork. Then you can either change the locks or have the sheriff come and remove her and her belongings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by analouisa0720

My fiance and I have a roommate who hasn't paid rent for this month. She is in her room most of the time and when we knock on her door to give her the 3 day notice she does'nt answer. We could hear her in there on the phone or watching t.v. We have had the police come to our house while we were away because her boyfriend hit her. We have asked to not bring him over but she continues to sneak him in at night. She has avoided us since the incident and leaves while we are asleep or eating dinner. She practically runs out the door. She is messy and leaves the bathroom toilet unflushed. We have been patient and want her out. Its messed up that the tenant knows more than us and she gets away with living in our home for free. What can we do?

Change lock on her door while she is out. If she starts breaking the door down call the law because she is desstructing private property. Put her clothes in a place near the front door or close by. Don't give her reason to go into the room . Put clothes on the front porch. If she is disturbing the peace because of boyfriend call the law. Don't be afraid to have officer escort her and him off the property because of fear. Since its your house you can change the locks, bar the windows, board up the window, etc. If you didn't sign anything you can get away with kicking her out. Just tell the cops you was helping a friend out by letting her stay there but infringing on your rights by letting a person trespass on your property and she is a part of the crime. You have more of a chance of kicking someone out if it's a friend your are helping out. But if you make it a business matter you might not get any help from the law by anouncing you let her come in as a tenant. Be careful with your wording if you do call the law to come out. You can kick her out if she is a friend that over-stayed her welcome and had a bad boyfriend that tresspassed. If a office doesn't want to be bother(I use to be one) he will tell you it's a civil matter that needs to be taken up in court. So don't go to blabbing about the roommate situation. They need to be romoved if causing problems. Changing locks is your right and if she comes home and finds her stuff on the front porch, tell her you will call the cops if she causes any problems. I don't think she will since she is avoiding you. If she has furniture , arrange in writing from her when she will pick it up. And always have 2 people pressent in business matters. You and fiancé or a friend. If you are overly passive she maay be taking advantage of you.

The Nightmare Is Over. She Finalyy Moved Out. She Still Owes Us Rent For Two Months But My Fiancé Doesn't Want To Hassle The Cost Of Courts And All That. We Are Just Glad She Is Gone. Thanks Everyone For All Your Feed Back And Help