[twbassman]

I have a tenent in my home that stopped paying rent. She owes for the month of Feb. March and now April. There is no written lease and never was. She claims she is saving up money to move out. She told me this in Jan, and hasn't paid a penny since. Can I change the locks? Can I advise the local police that there is a trespasser on my property? I live in the state of DE

[SANDSRANK]

Serve Her with a pay rent or quit notice right now. You need to evict her, look up how to evict her in your state.

[JudyKayTee]

She's not trespassing. She's a tenant who stopped paying rent. She must be evicted according to the laws of your State. Apartments USA.com - State of Delaware Real Estate Eviction Law

[ScottGem]

Why have you waited so long? When a tenant is a few days late in the rent, you should serve her with a pay or quit notice.

As the others noted, she is a tenant, not a trespasser and needs to be evicted according to the laws of your area. You can check with your local housing court for the correct process. But generally the process involves serving the tenant with a written 3-10 day pay or quite notice or a 30-60 terminate of lease notice. The amount of time varies according to local law. A pay or quit notice gives the tenant the opportunity to pay the arreas and stay, while the termination of lease notice ends the tenancy.

Once the expiration date of whihcever notice is used is reached, and the tenant still hasn't vacated, the landlord will then file for an eviction order in the local court. A hearing will be held and an eviction order issued. If the tenant still doesn't vacate, the landlord hires a sheriff to physcially remove the tenant.