A friend of mine had trouble with her previous roommate so I offered to rent her one of the extra rooms in my house in Atlanta, GA. We agreed on the terms (rent due on the 1st day of every month, we'll assume month-to-month basis since she was only planning to stay shortly); I never asked her to sign a lease. She's only lived here for 3 months and has not been able to pay rent.

On May 20th, I told her the arrangement wasn't working out and asked her to be out of my house by June 10th. She told me she was unable to be out by June 10th and asked me if we could wait until June 30th. I agreed to let her stay until June 30th.

It's now June 26th, I spoke to her today to make sure she's on schedule for the June 30 move-out and she said no. She's refusing to leave, stating that I haven't given her enough notice. If she isn't out by July 3rd (3 days after the date I've requested her to move), I'm having her stuff moved to storage and changing all the locks. Are there any legal ramifications for my actions???

She has been given plenty of notice the problem is you have to give her written notice.
What state do you live in because your state may only require a 3 or 10 or 14 day written notice.

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Originally Posted by SubriziGirl

A friend of mine had trouble with her previous roommate so I offered to rent her one of the extra rooms in my house in Atlanta, GA. We agreed on the terms (rent due on the 1st day of every month, we'll assume month-to-month basis since she was only planning to stay shortly); I never asked her to sign a lease. She's only lived here for 3 months and has not been able to pay rent.

On May 20th, I told her the arrangement wasn't working out and asked her to be out of my house by June 10th. She told me she was unable to be out by June 10th and asked me if we could wait until June 30th. I agreed to let her stay until June 30th.

It's now June 26th, I spoke to her today to make sure she's on schedule for the June 30 move-out and she said no. She's refusing to leave, stating that I haven't given her enough notice. If she isn't out by July 3rd (3 days after the date I've requested her to move), I'm having her stuff moved to storage and changing all the locks. Are there any legal ramifications for my actions???

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Huge legal ramifications. You are contemplating performing an illegal eviction. She can sue you and win big damages for that.

If you had given her written notice on May 20th, or if she had agreed in writing to be out by June 30th, then you would have provided enough notice and you could file a lawsuit for eviction on July 1st. But if the notice wasn't in writing then you have to start over. Hand her a written notice today that her tenancy is terminated as of July 31st. If she hasn't left by then, file a lawsuit for eviction on Aug. 1st.

Additional thoughts:

If you want to evict her for non-payment of rent you can give her a 3, 5, 7 or 10 day written notice, depending on your state law. If she hasn't paid all amounts in full by the end of the notice period then you can file the lawsuit for eviction. BUT... if she comes up with all of the money on or before the court date then the eviction case gets cancelled.

If you just want to terminate her tenancy then you have to give her a 30 day written notice. Of course it takes longer to get her out but she can't stop the eviction by making full payment.

Here is some information: Georgia Evictions

OOPS I knew I read the state somewhere.
Georgia you have to give a 7 day written notice so start writing.

Ok, you will owe her 1000's of dollars for a illegal eviction and any property she claims is damage you will be paying for.

If after you give her a 7 day notice to pay or quit ( for non payment) if she does not pay, you file for a eviction in housing court and then the sheriff office comes out and watches you sit her property to the curb if she is still there.

If you do this without going to housing court and just change the lock, you may end up being the tenant in her house after she wins that law suit.

Can you collect legal fees from eviction case?

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Originally Posted by benzhp37;

can you collect legal fees from eviction case?

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Actually, you should have started a new thread to ask this question.

Depends on which state or country you are in.

In the UK the "English Rule" on attorney fees is that the prevailing party may recover his/her/it's attorney fees.

If it's in the United States, most states (with the exception of Alaska) follow the "American Rule" which says that, in the absence of a statute providing that the prevailing party may recover attorney fees, or a contract providing that the prevailing party gets attorney fees, each party pays his/her/it's own attorney fees.

So, if the lease provides that you get your attorney fees if it goes to court and you win, you get your fees. Otherwise, as I explained above, probably not, depending on where you are.