[pk9869]

I am leasing a house and GF moved in with her 3 kids. She is not on the lease and I never required her to pay anything towards the lease. About a month into her moving in without getting into all that crap lets just say I realized I had made a huge mistake. It has been two months now and I asked her to find another place. She told me she had 30 days and that I would have to evict her. Since she is not on the lease and has never paid anything, does she have any tennants rights and will I have to go through the eviction process or can I just request she leave under treaspass laws and if she refuses call the police?

[LisaB4657]

It sounds like this woman has established residency so you will have to follow the landlord/tenant laws to get her out. You will have to give her at least 15-30 days written notice that her tenancy is terminated. The actual time depends on the laws of your state. Let us know where you are located and we can tell you the correct time. If she hasn't moved out within that time then you have to file a lawsuit for eviction.

[pk9869]

I live in SC

[LisaB4657]

I just checked. For SC you have to give 30 days WRITTEN notice that her tenancy is terminated and she must vacate the property.

[AK lawyer]

It sounds like this woman has established residency so you will have to follow the landlord/tenant laws to get her out. ...

"SECTION 27-40-660. Tenant's remedies for landlord's unlawful ouster or exclusion.

If a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant from the premises, ... the tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement and, in either case, recover an amount equal to three months' periodic rent or twice the actual damages sustained by him, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees. ..."

" SECTION 27-40-210. General definitions ...

(6) "landlord" means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the premises ...
...
(12) "rental agreement" means all agreements, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted under Section 27-40-520 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit and premises;

...

(15) "tenant" means a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others; "

Under Section 660, you are a "landlord", as defined. You have a "rental agreement", in this case an oral one. Although there was no rent agreed to, a "rental agreement" as defined doesn't need to. But I would argue that she isn't a "tenant", as defined, because your agreement doesn't allow her to exclude others, such as yourself.

Most of the experts on this forum will tell you that, despite what the statute says, if one has established "residency", that person has to be evicted by filing a lawsuit.

Finally, I would note, if you were to evict her without a court order (by talking the police into throwing her out, for example), she may be able to sue you for damages. If she is able to persuade the court that, rather than what I am saying, she is a "tenant", she may be able to get a money judgment for damages against you. In SC, as indicated above, the damages would not be limited to 3 x periodic rent (which in your case of course would be zero), but can also include "actual damages" plus reasonable attorney's fees.

[Fr_Chuck]

So have you given her a written notice to be out in 30 days?

Then if she will not move, you file in housing court to evict her